The Legend of Buffy: The Sithe of Time
by melodrome
Summary: Ocarina of Time crossover. Making fun of both the game and the show... rather silly. Rating for some profanity and some underlying connotations that aren't really that underlying.
1. The Girl Without a Fairy

_In the vast, deep forest of Sunnydale… long have I served as the guardian's guardian spirit. I am known as The Great Watcher Giles._

_The children of the woods live here. All have a spirit guide in the form of a small fairy who leads them as much as they can._

_However, there is one girl who does not have a spirit guide._

_She dreams often of the horrors of the Hellmouth, but there is one dream in particular that haunts her often: she always stands before a great mansion made of stone. It is always raining, and she is always full of great apprehension. A girl on a white horse runs by. She watches the horse go and turns back to the castle to find herself face to face with a man clearly full of darkness and hate. He finds a way to disable her, and then she awakes._

_I find these dreams very disturbing, though I have heard of them only through Angel, the spirit guide meant for this girl. I find myself calling for him now. "Angel? Angel, where art thou? Come hither."_

_The fairy appears promptly and glows appreciatively. "Oh Angel the fairy, listen to my words, the words of The Great Watcher Giles. Dost thou sense it, the climate of evil descending on this realm? Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Sunnydale. For so long, Sunnydale forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world…_

"_But before this tremendous evil, even my power is as nothing._

"_It seems the time has come for the Girl Without a Fairy to begin her journey; the youth whose destiny is to lead Sunnydale to the path of justice and truth._

_"Angel, go now! Find our young friend and guide her to me. I do not have much time left. Fly, Angel, fly! The fate of the forest… nay, the world… depends upon thee."_

---

"Hello, Buffy! Wake up!" The girl before Angel stirs in her sleep but does not rouse. Angel sighs. "The fate of the world depends on a lazy teen, huh? We're screwed. Buffy, get the hell up. The Great Watcher Giles wants to see you."

To this, the girl opened her eyes and stared at the fairy above her. "The Great Watcher Giles? That guy who talks like he's from the seventeenth century that Harmony's always guarding?"

"That's the one."

Buffy frowned. "Why?"

The fairy hesitated and glowed extra-bright. "I'll let him tell you. But you know Harmony won't let you pass unless you have some things."

Buffy sat up and stared at the fairy. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

Angel sighed as only a fairy can. "I'm Angel the fairy. I'm your fairy now. Now, come on. Let's get going. I've wasted enough time already greeting the forestfolk and running into that freaking fence outside your house."

The girl rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Alright, 'Angel'." She beckoned to the door. "Lead the way. Tell me what I have to get." The two of them walked out the door.

Buffy stood on her balcony for a second. A forestfolk named Xander came running up to Buffy's house and stopped short when he saw her. "Yahoo! Hi, Buffy!" he shouted, and waved.

Buffy grinned and walked down to greet him. "Yahoo, huh?"

Xander grinned back and shrugged. "Yeah. Thought I'd try something new in the greeting realm. I see you finally have a fairy. What's its name?"

"His name is Angel," she said proudly.

Xander frowned. "His name is Angel? What kind of a girly name is Angel?"

"Hey!" shouted Angel.

Buffy pushed Xander lightly. He went staggering backwards despite Buffy's intentions. "You better have respect for my fairy, Xander. Now I'm finally cool." She frowned. "Besides, he ran into the fence. Gotta give a guy some sympathy for that."

Xander laughed. "I've run into that fence so many times, and I've never gotten any Buffy sympathy."

"Look, I hate to break up the party here, but we have a Watcher to talk to, and a lot of things to do before we get there."

Xander glared at the fairy. "Fine, party pooper." He smiled at Buffy. "Good luck. See you later."

Buffy walked away and regarded her fairy with evil eyes. "Okay, Mr. Grump. What do I need?"

"The Dagger of Angel."

Buffy stared at her fairy. "You're making that up."

"Not really. The Great Watcher Giles named it. He's a big fan of mine so he named some dagger after me."

Buffy blinked. "That's weird, you know that? That's really freaking weird."

The fairy moved up ever so slightly and Buffy took it as a shurg. "It's a living. Anyway, go over there. There's a small hole in the wall that no one else seems to be noticing. Crawl through it. Beware of the giant rolling ball; just wait until it's on the other side of the square it rolls around forever without any real force being exerted on it."

Buffy did as he said and noticed that he was right. "Isn't that against the laws of physics?"

"Absolutely. Ignore it. Walk around the circle until you see a little crevasse with a treasure chest. The dagger's in there. Then go back to town."

"Aren't you coming?"

"Sure I am. I just like to say things all at once, and then when I have something to say I'll say 'Hey!' really loudly and talk a whole bunch more. Other than that, you can pretty much ignore me."

"Cool," Buffy said, approaching the treasure chest. She frowned. "Is that why you said 'hey' when Xander was insulting you?"

The fairy moved ever so slightly side to side. "No, that was me protesting to the insult. But I guess that was a little confusing, wasn't it?"

"Just a little," Buffy said. She opened the chest and the dagger leapt up above her head. She tried to reach for it, but it just hovered there barely above her reach and rotated. She realized that Angel was talking.

"You found The Dagger of Angel! Equip it, and watch your worries get slashed away by this formidable blade. Small but strong, it'll be helpful for any forestfolk. You know you can trust The Dagger of Angel, simply because of its snazzy name."

Finally the blade blinked away, and Buffy felt a small weight on her back. She realized the dagger was attached by a nice leather sash around her shoulder. She pulled it out of its holder and slashed at some of the plants that were around. They got cut off instantly. The blade shimmered ever so slightly. "Cool."

"You'll have plenty of opportunity to test it out later, but for now the Watcher Giles is waiting. We have to hurry. Do you have any money?"

Buffy shook her head. "I had a job lined up for today, but I guess that's out."

"No worries. We'll just rob from other people."

Buffy glanced at her fairy as she avoiding the rolling ball. "Okay, now I know you're joking."

There was a pause. Finally: "Not really."

"What?!"

"Don't complain, we're doing a favour for humanity here. You'll be forgiven. You only need enough to buy a shield."

Buffy sighed and emerged back into the quaint town, jogging lightly over to the store. A neighbour was perched atop and greeted her as she entered.

"I need a shield," she told the shopkeeper.

"40 rupees," he said mechanically. Buffy gaped and left the store.

"40 fucking rupees for a shield? Who does he think he's kidding?" she muttered to herself. Angel chuckled but didn't say anything. She ducked into house after house to steal their savings, ran through bushes and even found some money hidden beneath rocks. Finally she had enough. She went back into the store and bought the shoddy wooden shield.

The second the transaction was complete, the shield appeared once again above her head, rotating and remaining just out of her reach. Angel commentated: "You found this basic shield!" Buffy was about to correct him that she'd bought it, not found it, but then realized that she stole all the money and decided maybe it was best not to speak at all. Angel continued: "Any forestfolk can use this against the oddest of foes! Block swords, funny rocks, and even creatures who simply throw themselves at you and try to throw you off! Keep in mind that it is still wooden, and it will not work on fire." The shield disappeared and reappeared on her back.

"Okay, now that's just weird," she muttered to her fairy, and left the store without acknowledging the shopkeepers. She wandered over to where she knew The Great Watcher Giles was hiding and regarded Harmony coolly.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Great Watcher Giles sent for me," she said matter-of-factly.

Harmony scoffed. "Yeah, right! Like anyone would send for a no-fairy loser like…" she blinked as Angel threw himself at her face. "What? Buzz off! Go find your own forestfolk to annoy!"

Buffy grinned. "Angel, back down." The fairy floated reluctantly back to Buffy.

Harmony was frowning. "Okay, so you have a fairy. Big deal. You were still the last one to get one. Besides, you still can't get through without being properly equipped with…" Buffy turned and gestured to the dagger and shield on her back. "What?! That is so not fair! Why do you get the Dagger of Angel?"

Buffy frowned. "So you really weren't kidding," she muttered to Angel, who grinned somehow.

"Fine! Fine, go through. If you want to meet your doom, go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you," Harmony said, putting her hand on her hips and standing at the side of the entrance, regarding Buffy with hatred or possibly envy.

Buffy grinned at her fairy at the two of them walked (or floated) through the small passageway. Buffy encountered some Watchers-in-Training on the way and quickly slew them with her new dagger, getting hit a couple of times but not having a problem. Finally she walked into a great clearing and Angel flew up to the man standing there… "Great Watcher Giles… I'm back!" he chirped.

"Oh… Angel… thou hast returned… Buffy, welcome. Listen carefully to what I, the Great Watcher Giles, am about to tell thee… Thy slumber these past nights must have been restless and full of nightmares.

"As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it… Verily thou has felt it. Buffy, the time has come to test thy courage.

"I have been cursed. I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage. Dost thou have the courage to undertake this task?"

"Uh… I guess. It's all going kinda quick since I just woke up about half an hour ago with a fairy, but sure. Why not?"

"Then enter, brave Buffy, and thou too, Angel… Angel, thou must aid Buffy. Buffy, listen well to his words of wisdom."

Buffy looked sideways at Angel, who moved slightly up and down. Buffy took that as a nod and walked toward the man. He stared at her intently and she shortly found herself in a glorious land that seemed oddly like the inside of a tree.


	2. Inside the Great Watcher Giles

Buffy looked around, totally in are. She saw a few creatures lying on the ground, asleep.

"Okay, this is going to sound a little freaky, but you're inside the spirit of The Great Watcher Giles."

"His spirit is a tree?"

"Pretty much. Don't ask. Anyway, those are more miniature Watchers. There's the Giles variety, which you met back there that will give you sticks, but these ones are the Wesley variety."

"What's a Wesley?"

"I've heard he's a Great Watcher in another land. Anyway, if you want to fight them, don't hesitate. If you falter, use your shield. The Wesley variety will give you flashes of light that will stun victims, especially vampires."

"Where do I put them?" She'd put the stick from the Giles variety in her pocket.

"Oh. Uh… in your hat. They'll be safe there."

Buffy nodded. "Right. Okay. I guess I climb the ladder once I'm done with those little Watcher guys?"

"Right. And if you hit the Wesleys the right way, they'll turn into Giles'. Take care, but don't fret if you're hurt; you can take up to six hits from these guys before you die."

Buffy glared at Angel. "Gee, thanks. That's reassuring." She walked around and slashed at the weird little Watchers, gathering the things they left her when they died and putting them in her hat. She climbed the ladder. Creeping around the ledge, she noticed something less than… well, heartening.

"Angel… why is there a heart lying in the middle of the sky?"

Angel looked around. "Oh, geez. You can eat those and they make you stronger in the middle of a battle. Right now, you can eat up to three hearts, but I've heard that real warriors can eat up to twenty."

"That is gross on way too many levels."

"…Yeah, I guess it kind of is. Forestfolk and other beings of Sunnydale evolved from vampires, you know, so I think it's left over from that."

"Ew. Ew. Ew."

"Buffy, you have to get over it. You're going to be extremely grateful that one of those hearts is lying around if you're mid-battle."

"Ew. Ew."

"Oh, be quiet. Look, some vines. I bet you could climb them."

Buffy looked up the vines and hesitated. "I don't like those… things being there. What are they?"

"Oh, geez, I didn't even notice those. They're Skullwalltulas, I think. You can kill them with a slingshot, but you don't have one of those. Go check in that chest, see if it's there."

She opened the chest majestically and an old piece of paper flew up just out of her reach. "Not again," she groaned.

Angel took a deep breath. "You've found an Interactive Map! Use this to navigate your way around this particular area. Rooms will not show up unless you've been in them, but the room you're in will flash to help you with navigation." The map rolled up and Buffy promptly felt it in her hat.

"I hate that. It's the fifth time that's happened."

Angel grinned, somehow. "Get used to it; every time you find something new, I'm obligated to do that."

"You're loving this, aren't you?"

"On many levels. Try that door over there."

Buffy jumped over the break in the ledge and the door opened automatically. She stepped through and it not only closed behind her, but it locked.

"Oh, shit," Angel muttered. "Here you've got a Watchershrub. Use your shield to block the things he shoots at you, and they'll bounce back. Once one hits him, catch him and threaten to beat him up for information."

"What? You're just trying to get me arrested, aren't you? First stealing, now assault."

"No, trust me, it works."

"Okay, fine. Whatever you say."

She did exactly as Angel described and the creature ducked away from her. "Ow-ow-ow! Forgive me, Master!"

Buffy frowned. "Master?"

"If I give you a clue, will you let me go?"

"Oh. Sure!"

The Watchershrub rambled on for a few minutes about how to roll out of a fall and then ran off, unlocking the door. It remained unlocked. Buffy frowned after it. "Would that even be classified as a hint?"

"Don't complain."

She looked at where the Watchershrub had been and winced. "It gave birth to a heart?"

"Buffy…"

"It gave BIRTH to a HEART? That is… what the hell is this place?"

Angel sighed. "And I was so hoping to get a forestfolk who hadn't led a sheltered life. Look, eat it or not. If you're feeling top strength, leave it alone. Let's just move on."

Buffy winced and approached it slowly. She picked it up. "At least it's not beating," she muttered, and downed it in one. She coughed and sputtered for a few seconds. "That was gross, Angel."

"You'll get used to it. Don't you feel better, though?"

"…I guess."

"Great. Now, let's keep going." Buffy walked through the door on the other side of the room. It opened and closed automatically, but did not lock. "Okay, there's a treasure chest at the other end. I recommend you jump down, climb the vines and use the platform as a way back. Besides, there are plants down there. They probably contain money or hearts at this point."

Buffy blinked at her fairy as she jumped down. "Plants give birth to hearts, too?"

"Nevermind! Just open the chest already."

Buffy climbed the vines and did as she was told. A slingshot jumped out and hovered out of her reach. "You found the slingshot! I think it should be pretty clear on how to use this but I never really know with you. Put a seed in the holder, pull it back and release. It should hit things. Use it mostly for killing stuff, but also for knocking things down!"

The slingshot, complete with 30 seeds, fell into her hat. "You done?" she asked her fairy.

"Yep. Let's scram and hit those skullwalltulas."

Buffy made her way back through the rooms and didn't encounter the Watchershrub again. She took out her slingshot and tried to hit one of the skullwalltulas on the vines, missing. She tried again and hit it; it fell to the ground and dissolved, revealing three seeds where it just lay. "Neat," Buffy murmured, picking up the seeds and following suit with the other two skullwalltulas. One of them left money.

"Why do these weird creatures have money?"

"They're greedy. Come on, let's go. We don't want The Great Watcher Giles to die before we get out of here, do we?" She climbed the vines and jumped down when she got to another level. Angel flew around. "Okay, Buff, there are some freaky spiders here called Skulltulas, but ignore them for now and walk through the door, killing everything in the room. I think there's something else you need before you move on."

Buffy did as she was told and the door locked behind her again. Out of curiosity, she stepped on a switch in the floor and three platforms rose up. She heard an odd ticking and decided to get moving, going to the area on her left first. Angel told her to ignore the giant skulltula and go for the golden one instead. "Those tokens can get you things in other regions, I've heard. Keep them. They could be useful."

Buffy kicked open the small chest and groaned. "There are hearts in chests, too? Okay, officially not caring anymore." She slashed the skulltula from behind and jumped down, gathering the money it left as it dissolved. She killed the Wesleywatcher and climbed the vines there were behind him, repeating the process and jumping to the back platform instead.

A small rounded object jumped above her head. She sighed as Angel began his rant: "You found the compass! Now all rooms on the Interactive Map are visible; the ones you've visited are still blue, the others empty. You can now also see hidden objects, such as chests! Congratulaaaations!"

Buffy felt another weight in her hat, but was in no way dehabilitated. "Congratulations?" she asked her fairy.

"I keep telling you not to ask, but you just don't listen. We've got what we came for; let's go kill some skulltulas."

"Angel, the door's still locked."

"Oh… right. Well, here's a lit torch, and here's a non-lit torch. Maybe light it with one of those sticks and it'll unlock." She did; it did. She walked through and used her slingshot on the backside of the nearest skulltula since it hit her out of the way every time she used her dagger. It sprouted a heart and she ate it graciously, ignoring what she was eating and loved the results it gave her; the feeling of strength.

"Okay, now what?"

"Jump."

She glared at her fairy. "Steal! Hit! Jump! You either want me in jail or dead. I don't get you."

"Hey, I'm only trying to help. Just do it, and aim for that webbing in the middle of the floor."

Buffy looked over the edge. "Okay, but if I die, we are so not going to be on good terms." She held her breath and jumped. She couldn't help but scream on the way down. She broke through the webbing and fell further, screaming again and not stopping until she hit the cold water at the bottom. She broke surface and swam to the elevated platform, drying off almost instantly but still cold. "That was not cool," she told Angel.

"I thought it was," he said happily, jumping around. He pointed out a gold skulltula and she hit it with her slingshot and jumped to collect the token. She jumped on the switch, looked around and made the relation. Taking out a stick, she lit the stick on fire and jumped down and across, lighting the webbing across the door on fire. "See? You barely need me anymore."

"Great. Go away."

"Nice try. You're not getting rid of me that easily." She walked through the door and got ambushed by another Watchershrub. She defeated it easily and caught it in a corner.

"Please forgive me, master!" it squealed.

"Again with the master. Not that I'm complaining, but…"

"If you spare me, I'll teach you something cool. You will never beat my brothers up ahead unless you punish them in the proper order. The order is: 2 3 1. Twenty three is number one! Do you think I'm a traitor?" He ran off and left another heart behind.

"Honestly, I'm not sure at this point," she muttered and stared at the still locked door. "Okay, no fair. And why is there an eye above the door? Is there something spying on me here? That's not very nice."

"Try slingshotting it," Angel suggested. She complied, and the eye closed, opening the door.

"Hey! Smart fairy. You get praise."

"Thank you," he said proudly, and flew around. She walked through the door and immediately recoiled from the sight of the spikes.

"I don't like this."

"There's something underwater," Angel pointed out. She dove in and pushed something; the water level fell and another timer sounded. She hurried out of the water and jumped on the platform, jumping off again at the other side and catching her breath.

"Where does that timer noise even come from?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I tried to track it… didn't really succeed. It's just… there, I think."

"This whole place is really freaking weird."

"You're not wrong," Angel told her. Buffy killed the skulltula and tried to jump to the above door and failed. "Pull the block," he told her. She did until it was in front of the door, climbed on top of it and advanced into the next room.

She killed the Wesleywatchers and the Gileswatchers, backing away when the Gileswatchers just kept coming back. "All Gileswatchers do this," Angel yelled as she fought the same one for a sixth time. "It's just so you don't get stuck in the room. Ignore it and light the torches already." Reluctantly she backed away and did as he said, walking through the door.

She stepped forward and killed a skulltula. "Stop," he whispered. "I sense something." He whizzed around along the ceiling. Buffy watched him. "Eyghon babies. I think if you went around the room instead of through it, you could avoid fighting them."

"Shouldn't we kill them, though? I mean, to save The Great Watcher Giles' spirit or whatever?"

"Eyghon babies…" he muttered. "I don't think it matters anymore. I think all we need to do is defeat Eyghon."

"How do you know I-gone or whatever is here?"

"There are Eyghon babies, which means that Eyghon must be in here to give birth to them. That's probably the Great Watcher's curse. We have to kill Eyghon."

Buffy thought about all this as she mechanically got herself into the next room. She pushed the block off the edge without thinking and instantly gasped when she realized what she'd done.

"Don't worry!" Angel said quickly. "You were supposed to do that. Now you can access that torch and light the webbing in the floor on fire." He smelled the air. "We're almost there. Just a bit further."

She did as he said and fell through the hole in the ground, seeing water at the bottom. She screamed anyway and scrambled out of the cold water. "There are hearts in the water now, Angel."

Angel didn't say anything and Buffy realized that he was vibrating because he was snickering. "Stop that! It's weird and ishy." She stepped forward and immediately, three Watchershrubs jumped up and ambushed her. She conquered them one at a time to no avail.

"Remember what the other Watchershrub said, Buffy!" Angel yelled over the noise.

Buffy thought for a second. "Please forgive me, master?"

"No! Twenty three is number one! You have to kill them in the right order!"

"Oh," Buffy said shortly and was promptly chasing down the final one.

"How did you know our secret?! How irritating!" it squealed when she caught it.

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the master part," Buffy said.

"It's so annoying that I'm going to reveal the secret of Eyghon to you!"

Buffy frowned. "Does that make any kind of sense? Did I even hear that right?"

The Watchershrub spoke for a while and Buffy listened carefully, even though she figured it was a trap. The Watchershrub apologized to Eyghon and then disappeared, leaving a heart behind.

"All right. You're going to need full strength, Buffy. Eat some hearts if you have to, and let's go."

Buffy walked through the door into a room of black.

---

The door closed behind her. She waited for her eyes to adjust and then looked around the room carefully. A few plants littered the ground. She looked up and…

…made eye contact with a demon that was scaling the ceiling. It noticed her at the same time she noticed it, and jumped down, screaming and bearing its claws. Angel was shouting: "Its eye! Hit it in its eye! Stun it first, then hit it in the eye!"

Buffy nodded and took out her slingshot, hitting it when its eye turned red out of instinct. It fell to the ground and convulsed, and Buffy took out the dagger and hit it repeatedly. Finally Eyghon came to itself and retreated. Buffy, injured, slashed some plants and ate the hearts in one swift motion.

"Buffy…" Angel rumbled quietly. "Buffy, I think it's laying eggs."

Buffy whirled around to see Eyghon back on the ceiling and pulsating. "Eggs? I thought it was a boy demon!"

"It is," Angel said shakily.

"What the hell?!" Buffy asked.

"Nevermind! Slash the eggs as they fall! Don't let them hatch."

Buffy stepped forward and slashed two of them as quickly as she could, but she couldn't get to the last one in time; it hatched to reveal a tiny, black, slimy creature that looked like a miniature version of Eyghon. Buffy hit it three times and eventually it died. Eyghon promptly jumped back down and Buffy took out her slingshot again. It collapsed and she hit it with the sword again.

It screamed a different scream and looked up. Buffy noticed the liquid spouting from its eye. Finally it collapsed and started piecing apart, exerting some kind of green gas. Soon there was nothing but a blue light in the centre of the room and a large heart in front of her.

Buffy hesitantly touched the heart in front of her and immediately it jumped just out of her reach. "Oh, not you, too," she muttered.

"You got a heart container!" Angel announced. "Your maximum life energy is increased by one heart." It disappeared completely this time, but Buffy felt instantly rejuvenated, as though someone had just fed her a magical draught or something.

"Geez," she whispered. "Is this feeling permanent?"

"Yep," Angel said, nodding. "But you'll get used to it soon enough. Now you can eat up to three and three-quarters of a heart; if you had any less strength than that, you'd be dead."

"Again with the moral support," Buffy muttered, slowly circling the blue light in the middle of the room.

"Just remember, though… if you're good enough, you might gather up to twenty heart capacity. Imagine the feeling then."

Buffy sighed and stared at the light. "We'll see if I get there. What's this do?" she asked.

"Step into it; I think it's the only way out of here," Angel said.

Buffy glanced at him. He'd told her to do some questionable things, but he hadn't been wrong yet. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.  



	3. Interlude: Trek to Hyrule Mansion Part I

"Well done, Buffy," the rumbling voice of The Great Watcher Giles said as she touched down back in his clearing. "Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage. I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes…

"Now, I have yet to tell ye, wouldst thou listen…"

"Sure. I've got time," Buffy said, sitting down to the story.

"Listen carefully… a wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me…"

An image filled Buffy's mind of a man of immeasurable but dark power riding a black horse. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't place him. The Great Watcher Giles' voice filled her head. "This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected with Sunnydale, for it is in that realm that one will find the devine relic, the Box of Gavrok, which contains the essence of each of the Gods…"

The scene in Buffy's mind changed and suddenly she was looking into the sky from a perspective far above earth. It is raining, and three golden lights begin to fall from the sky. "Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended on the chaos that was Sunnydale.

"Din, the Goddess of Power…

"Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom…

"And Farore, the Goddess of Courage.

"Din, with her flaming arms, cultivated the soil and the earth. Nayru poured wisdom, spirit and laws to the land, and Farore, with her rich soul, produced life forms to uphold the laws.

"The three Goddesses created the Box, each creating one of the three contents of the box where they left the world. The spot where the Box lay has since become the Sacred Realm."

Buffy was brought back to reality and she stood up after these bizarre cinematics in her head. "Thou must never allow the desert man in the black armour to lay his hands on the Box of Gavrok. Thou must never suffer that man with his evil heart to enter the Sacred Realm of Legend, that evil man who cast the death curse upon me and sapped me of my power.

"Because of that curse, my end is nigh."

Buffy gasped. "Yes," The Great Watcher Giles continued. "Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started. I will pass away soon, but do not grieve for me. I have been able to tell you of these important matters…

"This is Sunnydale's final hope.

"Buffy!" The Great Watcher Giles proclaimed. "Go to Restfield Mansion. There thou will surely meet the Princess of Destiny. Take this stone with you, the stone that man wanted so much that he cast the curse on me."

A flash of brilliant green light appeared, and when it cleared Buffy found herself helplessly reaching toward a sparkling green stone, just out of her reach. "Oh, damnit," she said.

"You got the Kokiri's Emerald?!" Angel said in surprise. Then he regained his composure. "Oh. Uh, this is the Spiritual Stone of the forest, now entrusted to you by The Great Watcher Giles." Buffy felt the greatest weight yet fall into her hat, though again it had no effect.

"The future depends upon thee, Buffy," The Great Watcher Giles told her. She crumpled her face and tried hard not to tell him that she didn't want that kind of pressure. "Thou art courageous. Angel the fairy, help Buffy to carry out my will. I entreat… ye… Angel… good… bye…" the Watcher said wearily, and promptly collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Angel flew over to his mentor and bounced around above his dying form. Buffy watched helplessly from afar and let Angel do as he liked. After a while, Angel flew back to her. "Okay," he said. "Let's go to Restfield mansion, Buffy." She nodded sadly and turned away. Angel lagged behind for a second. "Goodbye, Great Watcher Giles," he murmured, and joined Buffy in her retreat to town.

---

"Where the hell is Restfield mansion, anyway? I've never seen it in the woods."

"It's not in the woods. It's in Sunnydale."

Buffy gaped and stared at her fairy. "But… but that's not possible. We're not allowed to leave!"

"That's right, you're not," Harmony said, blocking their path back into town. "What did you do to the Great Watcher Giles? Did he… die?"

"I'm sorry, Har—"

"How could you do a thing like that? He's, like, always been protector of us! It's all your fault!"

"Harmony, I didn't…"

"Whatever! You are so not a forestfolk and you never will be."

"Hey!" Angel interjected. "Forget her. Let's go."

Buffy sighed. "I want to find Xander and say goodbye first."

"No time."

"Angel, Xander's my best friend, and I know you don't like him, but…"

"Buffy, it's not that. We have to get to the castle before dark."

"…But time doesn't flow here. It's always light."

"And if you come back when it's dark out there, it'll always be dark here. The Great Watcher Giles enchanted the place, and many others. Don't ask why. Look, you can come back later and tell him why you left, but for now we have to go."

"Fine." Buffy walked through the exit that always used to be blocked by one of the forestfolk. She ignored the new surroundings and walked across a bridge she'd never seen before.

"Buffy," said a voice from behind her. Buffy stopped. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Buffy turned to face Xander. "I was going to find you…."

"Don't worry about it. I knew you'd leave someday, Buff. You're different from the rest of us, I know. We're always going to be friends, as unimaginably cheesy as that sounds. You've got my undivided support, no matter what happens."

Buffy smiled and flung her arms around Xander's neck, giving him a hug. Finally she backed away and he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Look, I know you're not generally magickally inclined, but here's an empty spellbook. It'll hold any spells you learn, and they can do any amount of things. I've heard some are transportation spells, but.…" Xander shook his head and smiled. "Take it. I've never used it. I don't need it as much as you do."

Buffy reached out and took it from him, leafing through the pages. She closed the book and stared at it closely, and really dumb music filled the air.

Angel cleared his throat softly. "You've found the Beginner's Spellbook! This is a memento from Xander."

"Come back to visit, okay, Buffy?"

Buffy nodded and felt a wave of emotion pass over her. "I love you, Xand."

"I love you too, Buff. Now get going. You have a princess to see."

Buffy smiled and backed slowly away from Xander, getting a good look at him before turning and running into Central Sunnydale.

"Go," Angel told her when she got out. "You don't have a lot of time. I can smell sunset long before it comes."

Buffy ran around the corner and was halted in her tracks by a soft female voice from somewhere above her. "Buffy… look up here."

Buffy looked around and finally noticed a bird-like figure hiding in the shadows. "Um… hi… who the hell are you?"

"Looks like you're finally starting your little adventure."

"Yeah. Apparently."

"You're going to run into some trouble. Don't worry… it's your fate."

"Again with the fate. First The Great Watcher Giles, now a mysterious crouching bird tells me about fate I don't want fate. Hell, I'm not sure I know what fate is."

"Come this way and you'll see Restfield Mansion. You'll meet a princess there. If you're lost and don't know which way to go, look at the map."

Buffy felt an odd weight in her hat and realized that this unusual person had just given her a map.

"Did you get everything?"

"All but your name."

The voice hesitated and took on a spooky tone. "Miss Edith needs to be tended to." Buffy blinked and figure was gone.

"All right. That was weird and a half."

"Dwell later. Run now," Angel instructed, seeming to be in a hurry about forgetting about the bird as soon as possible. "Ignore distractions, there'll be plenty of time to look around later."

"Okay, okay. Going, already." Buffy began running. Angel sniffed the air again.

"It might help if you rolled your way."

"That doesn't make sense."

"No, but it works. Just do it."

Buffy rolled her way onto the drawbridge just as it was getting dark. She stepped into the village. Angel nodded. "You're safe now. Take your time, explore. Welcome to Restfield Cemetery."

Buffy looked around at the happy people bartering and chasing small children. "It's called a cemetery because…"

Angel hesitated. "I can't tell you. You'll find out with time," he said cryptically.

"Right. Time. It's always 'when you're older'… which doesn't actually apply to forestfolk since we don't age." She giggled at two gents positively convulsing with laughter. "Can I go talk to people? I've never met anyone so tall before."

"Go nuts," Angel said resignedly, and hid in Buffy's hat.

Buffy walked up and greeted the two gents.

"Wha-ha-ha! What a crazy guy!" one of them said. "Can you believe this guy was crazy enough to try to sneak into the mansion to see Princess Willow?"

"Heh," Buffy said nervously. "Yep, that's… that's pretty crazy."

"All because of this idiot, they've tightened security at the castle! Wha-ha-ha!"

"Oh, crap," she said. The other one turned to her.

"I wanted to see Princess Willow!" he said to her. "I avoided the guards, swam through the moat… I was almost there when they caught me! There was a small drain hole I thought I could squeeze into, but I got stuck."

Buffy grinned. "Oh. Oh, I mean, that's terrible." She walked away from them, flicking her hat to bring Angel out from within. "Okay, so now I know how to get in. What now?"

"If you know how to get into the castle, finding the castle might be a start."

"Ha-ha. So it's, what, through there?" Buffy asked, pointing to an exit from the town that showed a tower vaguely obscured by fog in the background.

"Yep."

"Okay. Down the yellow brick road," she muttered to herself as she took a deep breath and stepped toward the passage leading from town to castle grounds.  



	4. Interlude: Trek to Hyrule Mansion PartII

Buffy's ambitious march was interrupted by a girl's voice from behind her. "Hey!"

"What?" Buffy asked loudly, startled. Turning around, she was greeted by a smallish girl wearing a dress and sporting long hair.

"Your clothes… they're different. You're not from around here, are you?"

"Uh… no. Good call."

The girl paused. "Oh! You're a fairy girl from the forest! My name is Dawn. My dad is principal of Sunnydale High. He went to the mansion to deliver some important homework assignments to the princess, but he hasn't come back yet…" she said, and drifted off, staring into the town.

"Oh…" Buffy said, and walked slowly away from the unusual girl. She saw the mansion in the distance and walked toward it, reluctantly leaving the peppy atmosphere of the "cemetery".

It was instantly night again. She tentatively stepped forward a little way and was immediately ambushed by the crouching figure atop a tree. "Hey, Buffy… this way."

Buffy twisted around and made eye contact with the large owl. "What the hell? Are you stalking me?"

She only smiled. "The princess is inside the pretty house just ahead. Don't get caught by the guards… they are wicked, they are."

"You know what's really annoying? People who stalk me without even telling me their names."

The owl smiled as much as was possible with a beak. "Time is passing here. If you go into a town, it stands perfectly still. Oooh…"

"Or my forest."

"Yes... the trees most enjoy it when the sun is ever-present." The owl frowned. "I find it so terribly hurtful."

"Uh-huh, sure. Can I go now?"

Her face crumpled; Buffy realized she may be about to cry. "You don't enjoy our lovely conversations."

"Not usually, no."

She took a hint and took to flight, but not before bursting into loud sobs. Buffy rolled her eyes. "I really don't like her. And she still didn't tell me who she was."

"Her name's Drusilla," Angel said quickly. "Look, there's a guard over there. Maybe you should talk to him to find out more about security."

Buffy crept slowly toward the guard. "Do you know her?"

Angel hesitated. "We've met. Never mind, I'll tell you..."

"When you're older?"

"Well... yeah."

Fortunately, Angel was spared the rest of the conversation by the guard when he noticed Buffy creeping toward him. "Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It's a peaceful, prosperous mansion," he said, and looked away.

"That's it?"

The guard looked back at her. "Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It's a peaceful, prosperous mansion."

"…Great, but you just told me that."

"Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It's a peaceful—"

"I get it already! Peaceful, prosperous mansion. God." She walked away and looked around for some other method of getting to the castle. "I don't get it. Am I missing something?"

"It seems so… even I don't get it. Try going back to town. It's night, now… maybe something will be different," Angel recommended.

She walked back into town and saw two guards around the entrance. "Kids shouldn't be wandering around town at nighttime!" one yelled after her. "Stay indoors until morning!"

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked around. "Nothing new here. Bunch of dogs, and those weird dancing people are still here." She turned and instantly heard some very sweet singing.

Buffy frowned. "Is that Dawn? Where is she?" She followed the voice until she was back in front of the mansion. Buffy walked up to her. "Hey, Dawn. You have a very pretty voice."

"Are you going to the castle, fairy girl? Would you mind finding my dad?"

Buffy glanced at Angel, who shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Dawn giggled. "He must have fallen asleep outside the castle. What a thing for an adult to do!"

"…Yeah. Pretty kooky all right."

"Here. Take this. It should help you wake him up. I've been incubating it very carefully!"

Buffy recoiled. "Uhh…"

Something appeared just out of her reach. Angel commentated: "You got a weird egg!"

"Got that right," Buffy mumbled.

"Feels like there's something moving inside!" Angel finished. She felt it fall into her hat and she looked at Dawn again.

"Hey…" she said slowly. "There are vines here." She grabbed hold of a branch carefully and tested her weight. She found they'd hold her, and she climbed up. She got to the top and looked around. "Jesus, that mansion looks sinister."

Angel nodded a fairy nod. "You haven't seen anything yet," he mumbled low enough that she didn't hear. She passed a goofy looking rock as she followed along the ledge. She was going to follow along the cement wall between her and the other side, but she saw a guard standing there and crept back soundlessly.

"Jump off," Angel whispered. She scowled at him but didn't say a word, and leapt off the structure, rolling out of it and not getting injured at all. She stooped and assessed the guard situation, following the path a little ways and then climbing the hill in a place that seemed the least likely she'd get caught.

As day broke, she followed a secondary path along the grounds and passed some more guards, who still didn't notice. She heard a weird chicken noise from within her hat and Angel informed her that "the egg she was incubating became a chicken! It's the circle of life!"

"That_ I_ was incubating? I'm sorry, wasn't Dawn the one who said she was incubating it? Which was, by the way, weird on many levels." She found a brick wall and again tested her weight against it. She climbed it, and came across another one of those funny looking rocks. She poked it and it jiggled.

"Yeesh," she said, and poked it with her dagger. It wiggled a little more; upon slashing it completely, it bounced up and down and said aloud: "Boing boing! The current time is 8:09!" Buffy widened her eyes in fear and backed away, stepping off the edge of the hill and unintentionally falling into the moat.

"Crap," she whispered, and tried to scramble out.

"Don't," Angel told her. "Remember what that freaky laughing man said. Let the current carry you over there a ways. There's a patch of sand that you can get leverage off of." She did as he said and somehow collected some money in the process. She climbed out, checked for guards and ran a ways toward where to crates and a sleeping man lay. Buffy turned her head to figure out the puzzle and she took out the chicken, since Dawn had said it might help.

It crowed and the man stood up in a hurry, yelling "What in tarnation?!" Buffy laughed as he continued. "Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?"

Buffy put the chicken away, still chuckling. The man turned to her. "Hello, and who might you be? I'm Robin Wood, principal of Sunnydale High. I came here to deliver to some homework to the princess, and I sat down here to rest… I guess I fell asleep…"

"So your daughter assumed," Buffy said, smiling.

"What? Dawn was looking for me? Oh, I'm in trouble now. I messed up leaving Dawn behind to wait for me… She's really gonna let me have it!" Robin Wood turned away and ran as quickly as he could, waving his arms about. Buffy laughed again.

"That was neat. Wow, what a character." She looked around. "Hey, look, there's that tiny hole in the wall that weird laughing guy was talking about." She looked at it and estimated the distance she'd have to jump. "It's too far, though."

"Push the crates?" Angel suggested. He sounded tired.

Buffy nodded. "Sure. I bet I could swing it from here, Angel, if you wanted to rest in my hat for a while."

Angel nodded. "That'd be nice. If you need me, call," he said, and disappeared. Buffy felt an odd warmth above her head and smiled. For an annoying fairy who had woken her up yesterday in an obnoxious fashion, she'd sure warmed to him in the course of a day.

She pushed the boxes along and pushed them off the ledge, jumping mightily across the moat and landing on the other side. She quickly ducked and crawled through the hole, carefully looking about on the other side to make sure no guard was waiting.

There wasn't one immediately, but she hid behind a bush to hide from one walking in a square. She waited until he had his back turned and ran past stealthily…

…Only to be met by another two who were likewise walking in squares. She got past those and climbed the stairs quickly to walk above the next one. She walked along the beam above his head and lost her footing. She rolled out of the fall right in front of the guard.

"Hey, you!" he shouted dopeily. "Stop! You, kid, over there!"

Buffy looked around. "What, is there any other kid but me around?" She smiled at the guard, but he still picked her up and threw her outside again by where Robin Wood had been sleeping.

Angel jolted awake and appeared. "What? What happened?"

"I got caught by a guard. They threw me out." She sighed. "No big, I'll just try again. I'm eager to meet this princess… all royalty and would still rather have the local principal deliver homework."

The fairy sleepily returned to the hat without saying a word.

Buffy repeated the process, doing the exact same thing, except she took more care along the beam and got by easily. She passed the final four guards and slipped her way into Princess Willow's quarters.

The redhead stood at the window and didn't notice Buffy come in. Buffy crept forward until she was only a few feet from the girl. "Princess?" she asked hesitantly.

She gasped and turned around. "Hey! Who… who are you? How did you get past the guards?"

Buffy smiled kindly. "I hate to break it to you, but those guards are probably some of the stupidest people I've ever met."

Angel came out, hearing Willow's voice, and floated around to wake himself up. Willow noticed him.

"Oh, what's that? Is that… a fairy?"

Buffy smiled. "Good… call. Guess you've been to the forest before, huh?"

Willow smiled. "You… you wouldn't happen to have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you? That green and shining stone? Because if you did, then my dream was true… and my father's wrong… and, and I have to tell him before the First takes over…" she stopped herself. "Sorry, I'm babbling. So… do you have it?"

Buffy glanced at Angel, who nodded. Buffy nodded, too.

Willow laughed aloud. "I knew it! I knew it. I… okay. I had a dream last night. In the dream, dark clouds were over Sunnydale and it was chaos, I could tell. But then a ray of light shot out of the forest and parted the clouds, lighting up the ground. The light turned into a figure holding a green, shining stone followed by a fairy." Willow sighed. "I knew it was a prophecy the second I woke up. I knew someone from the forest would come." She grinned and jumped around a little. Then she stopped and gasped. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry! I got so caught up with my story that I forgot to introduce myself."

She smiled and held out her hand. "I am Willow, princess of Sunnydale." Buffy shook her hand.

"I'm Buffy," she said smiling.

Willow frowned. "Buffy… Buffy… strange, that name seems familiar…" Then her face regained its smile. "Okay, Buffy. I'm going to tell you something about the Sacred Realm that only the royal Rosenberg family knows about. Can you keep it secret?"

Buffy nodded without hesitation. "Absolutely. Secret is my middle name."

Willow nodded. "The legend goes like this:

"The three Goddesses hid the Box of Gavrok somewhere in Sunnydale. It's said that this Box holds the power to grant wishes; if someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, then the land will become a paradise; if an evil mind has his wish granted, then the land of Sunnydale will fall into ruin. Ancient sages built a temple to protect the Box from ever being found by evil people.

"So basically, the Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our dimension. There's a stone wall called the Door of Time between this dimension and that one, though. It's all very complicated; in order to open the door, it's said that you need three Spiritual Stones. You say you already have one, so you only have two more to find. But you also need another treasure of the royal family; there's a spell that opens the door, but even I don't know it."

Willow sighed. "Are you following well enough? I'm not really good at explaining things; I get all stammerey."

Buffy shook her head and smiled. "You're doing fine."

Willow nodded. "Good." She glanced behind her and made a face. "Eurgh. So remember the other element from my dream, the dark clouds?" The Princess nodded at her own words. "I'm thinking they symbolize this guy. Here, have a look," she said, stepping aside and beckoning at the window.

Buffy stepped forward and peeked through. "Yuck. He looks evil."

Willow nodded. "Oh, he is. Or, according to me, he is. He swears allegiance to my father, but I'm certain he's not being completely candid. He calls himself Richard Wilkins the Third, mayor of the Gerudos."

Buffy frowned but didn't remove her eyes from the window. The man bowed before the king. "What's a Gerudo?"

Willow laughed, but not in a mocking way. "I'm sorry, I forgot you were from the forest. The Gerudos are a colony in the desert far to the west. I don't think he's who he claims, though; another legend suggests that Wilkins died in the Lost Desert years ago. I've heard tales of a creature called The First who can take the form of dead people, but who is not corporeal." She lowered her voice so she thought Buffy couldn't hear. "The clouds… they have to symbolize him. It's the only possibility."

Buffy stared at the man even still, and he turned his head slightly and regarded her with evil eyes, letting her know he knew she was watching. Buffy immediately stepped away from the window as something tugged in her gut. "What happened?" Willow asked. "If he saw you, don't worry. He doesn't know what we're planning… yet."

Buffy glanced over at the Princess. "Again with the lack of positive thinking. Between you and my fairy, you could form a pessimists club."

Willow grinned, but her expression shortly became sombre. "I told my father, Ira Rosenberg, about my dream. He doesn't believe it to be prophecy. I can sense that man's intentions, but he cannot. He must be after the Box of Gavrok in the Sacred Realm. He likely came to the mansion to learn how to obtain it. He probably wants to conquer Sunnydale… no, the entire world!" Buffy could hear the panic in her voice.

"Not if I can help it," she said confidently, hoping she sounded convincing. Just yesterday, Buffy had been resting in bed with plans to weed Ross' yard, and the next day she was making plans with the Princess of Sunnydale about how to stop an incorporeal being to conquer the entire world. They were both kids; how could either of them make a difference?

Willow nodded, but kept going. "It's easy to say that, Buffy, but even with you here, I can't shake off the feeling that he's going to destroy Sunnydale. He has terrifying power. I'm glad you've come; I think between us, we can make the difference. I'll find the ancient spell and protect it with all of my power. He won't have it." She sighed. "You'd better go find the other two Spiritual Stones. Can you do that?"

"Absolutely," Buffy said without thinking about it.

Willow smiled. "Great." She took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. "One more thing… no offense or anything, but you're just a girl from the forest. You won't get very far on your own. Here's a note from me… hopefully this will give you all kinds of clearance to continue your quest.

Willow signed her name at the bottom of the letter and it immediately leapt up above Buffy's head. Willow's eyes widened in amazement. Angel, who had been quietly listening the whole time, cleared his throat and began his explanation. "You've received Willow's Letter! This letter has Willow's autograph and could probably get you anywhere."

Willow blinked in shock. "I swear I didn't tell it to do that," she told Buffy.

Buffy grinned. "I know. Everything I've found in the past two days has done that, don't worry about it."

Willow frowned. "Really? Everything?"

Buffy nodded. "Pretty much."

"That's… really weird."

"You know, it really is."

Willow cleared her throat and a woman appeared near the entrance. "This is Tara, my attendant. She'll guide you out… don't be afraid to talk to her. I… hope to see you soon, Buffy. I'm glad you came."

Buffy nodded and turned to leave. She stopped near Tara, who greeted her with a warm tone.

"I am Tara of the Wiccans. I am responsible for protecting Willow." The woman looked down at Buffy with large blue eyes. "You're very courageous… you're heading on a big, new adventure." She stood back up again. "My role in the Princess's dream was to teach a spell to the one from the forest. Have you learned spells before?"

Buffy shook her head. "My friend Xander only gave me a spell book yesterday."

Tara smiled. "Not to worry. This one's been passed down through the royal family… there is a mysterious power in these words. Now, listen carefully and repeat after me."

Tara's voice quality took on a totally different tone. "_Ouvre, par puissance du roi._" She smiled down at Buffy once again, and the lovely flowing voice was back. "It's French. It means, 'By power of the king, open'. It's simple enough, but if you don't know the language it can be tricky. You should write this down… you may want to take reference to it often."

Tara repeated the words, and when Buffy had finished copying them down, a shimmer came across the page, and cursive text appeared below the spell: _You have learned Willow's Lullaby._ Buffy frowned. "Willow's Lullaby?"

Tara scowled, but in a kind way. "At least it's original. Now, come on. I'll walk you out… we don't want trouble from the guards."

Once they got outside, they both looked over at a mountain, Tara doing so nostalgically and Buffy doing so with wonder. "We have to protect Sunnydale," Tara whispered, and then directed her words at Buffy. "Take a look at that mountain. It is where the actual Hellmouth lies, though it hasn't been active for years. There's another lengthy legend associated with it, but I won't bore you. The gorons live midway up the mountain, and they hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire.

"At the foot of the mountain you'll find my village. I was born and raised there… you should talk to some of the villagers before you go up what we call Death Mountain."

Buffy frowned. "What the hell! Will someone please be optimistic about something? I'm not feeling real comfortable climbing something called Death Mountain."

Tara smiled, but didn't respond. "The spell I gave you has power. It reveals things that may not be obvious to those not of the royal family. If you find yourself in doubt, use it. You may be surprised." Tara gave a final reassuring smile to Buffy and stepped backwards, throwing a substance down and disappearing with a flash of white light.  



	5. Interlude: To Death Mountain Part I

Buffy stood in the middle of the sunlit field for a while. She kept looking around. Finally Angel spoke up: "Buffy?"

She shook herself out of it and smiled at her fairy. "Sorry. Just… homesick, I guess."

Angel nodded in his fairy-like way. "Let's go home, Buff. Go see Xander, just for a while. It'll help you find inspiration or something. Besides, he'd probably want to know."

Buffy looked over at her fairy and smiled. "Thanks, Angel. I think I'll do that." They walked together in conversation, going across the bridge and finding herself back in the town that she loved so dearly just as the sun was about to set. She looked all over town for Xander and didn't find him anywhere. "He's probably in the Lost Woods or something," she muttered to herself, and climbed the vines. She noticed one of those clock-rocks right near the entrance and glared at it. "Now why have I never noticed that before?"

Angel laughed and whirled around. Buffy followed the sounds of the woods that always led her to him.

"Greetings," came Drusilla's misty voice again.

"Damnit," Buffy muttered, and faced her unwillingly.

"Follow the music of the woods. It'll lead you to…"

"Sacred Forest Meadow?" Buffy asked, smiling.

Faith frowned. "You ruin all my fun."

"Hate to break it to you, Drusilla, but I've lived in these woods long before you started 'helping' me."

The woman's face fell. "You're no fun at all." She turned around and disappeared into the trees.

"Ha, ha," Buffy said quietly, and continued through the rest of the way. Angel held his breath, dreading Buffy's questions, but she didn't seem to remember the earlier conversation about Drusilla. The fairy breathed a sigh of relief and flew alongside Buffy as she made her way to Sacred Forest Meadow.

When she finally emerged from the forest, she found her path unusually blocked by a big gate. She frowned. "That's odd," she muttered, stepping towards it.

A howl filled her ears. She turned and found herself facing a strange-looking wolf. Angel hissed out of his teeth and flew around it. "It's an Oz!" he shouted at her. "It's very quick to defend, but not so quick to attack. Slash him just before or after he tries to attack, and use your shield!" he told her.

Buffy defeated it, with a few scratches of her own, and the gate fell. "I have never seen that before," she told the fairy and started through the maze. She stopped and used her shield on the Orange Watchershrubs. "These haven't been here, either," she said, fighting them off one at a time.

"Just run past them," Angel said eventually. She got hit a couple of times but she did get by a lot faster. Finally she found herself running up the stairs to what she and Xander always used to call Xander's haven; a quiet area with fairies floating around and an old broken staircase.

He sat quietly, reading a spellbook. He'd always been interested in spells, but every time he said one, they'd never turn out… except for one he created. They called it Xander's Incantation, and it made the listener feel very relaxed and happy.

She walked up to him, smiling. He looked up. "I thought you'd come soon," he said. "We never could stay away from this place long."

"Oh, yeah," she said sarcastically. "It's only the location I missed, Xander. It has nothing to do with you." He stood and they hugged.

"Learned any spells?" he asked, beckoning at the spellbook attached to her belt.

Buffy nodded. "One. Royal family heirloom. Princess Willow's caretaker taught it to me."

Xander gaped. "My God, Buffy! You've been gone a day and a half and you've already met a Rosenberg!"

Buffy grinned. "How's the magic coming on your end, Xand?"

"Not so good," he said, grimacing. "Xander's Incantation is going well."

"How does that go again?" she asked, taking out the book and a pencil and writing it down as he said it out of politeness.

"_La Bastrangue_," he said lightly. Buffy immediately grinned… not really of her own free will.

"What's that mean, anyway?" she asked him as she finished copying it down.

Xander shrugged. "It's a French dance, I don't think it translates into anything."

The second Buffy wrote down the final E, a shimmer illuminated the page. They both gawked at it as cursive text appeared again saying: _You've learned Xander's Incantation!_

Buffy stepped forward and pushed Xander lightly. He fell off his perch. "Xander! You didn't tell me that it was an actual spell that books knew!"

He sat back up slowly and examined the book closely. "I didn't know either!"

Angel floated around and cleared his throat softly. "Buffy…" he began. She nodded.

"I know, I know, we have to go see Death Mountain."

Xander gawked. "You're joking, right? You're not actually going to a place called Death Mountain, are you?"

Buffy nodded and winced. "'Fraid so, Xand. So if I die, sue the Princess, all right? She's the one who sent me up there in the first place."

He stood up. "Will do," he assured her, hugging her again.

"I'll see you someday, Xander. I don't think I'll be back for a while."

Xander nodded. "I didn't think the daily visits would be a normal thing."

They smiled at each other and Buffy ran away. She had a mountain to meet.

When she got to the foot of the stairs, she jumped up the ladder and down a hole in the middle of the ground. "This'll just take a second," she told the fairy as she stepped in amongst other fairies and got instantly healed.

Angel scoffed as she teleported back out of the hole. "Oh, so you knew about the healing fairies, but you didn't know about eating hearts?"

Buffy grinned. "Jealous?" she asked him.

He snorted. "No."

"Lying?" she asked, grinning wider still.

"…Maybe…" the fairy muttered. Buffy chuckled, but let it go. She walked out of the woods.

"Hello again you wretched girl."

"NO!" Buffy yelled and tried to turn away.

"Stop!" Drusilla yelled. "Come back!"

"Why should I? What have you told me of use?"

"That incantation has power."

"That's not your buisness. It's Xander's."

"There may be other mysteries around Sunnydale. You've just got to seek them out-like."

"Thanks, but I don't really want to take advice from you. You're far too annoying. Hell, you're even more annoying than my fairy, and when you've lived my past two days, you'll understand just how unbearably annoying that is."

"Hey!" shouted Angel.

"What? Is something coming?" Buffy asked in alarm.

"No, I was protesting again."

Buffy looked up and noticed that Drusilla had disappeared. She shrugged it off. "Maybe you should find another protesting word," she suggested to the fairy as she walked back to the forest.

Night fell the second they walked out onto the field. Buffy heard the ground rip behind her, and a very dead thing came at her slowly. She slashed at it with her dagger and it burned up just as three more appeared.

"There's too many," Buffy said after a while. "I can fight them, but I'll be fighting until daybreak."

"Just walk past them, maybe?" Angel recommended. "They don't seem to be moving too quickly."

Buffy nodded and put her sword away, running through Central Sunnydale. She sighed of relief once she realized she was more or less safe from the weird creatures despite the fact that a handful of them popped out of the ground wherever she went. "What were those?" she asked.

"Vampires that haven't fed in a very long time," came Angel's sombre response.

"…Yuck." Then she sighed. "I guess I have to run around here until day breaks if I want to see any activity in the town at the foot of Death Mountain, huh?"

Angel paused. "Or you could trek up to the High School, see what's happening there with Dawn and Robin. I bet by the time you got there, the sun will have risen."

Buffy grinned. "I like this plan." She wandered in that direction and totally dismissed the underfed vampires as they followed her at a slow pace. Finally the sun broke horizon and Buffy heard the noise of the vampires scuffling back underground. She walked through the door.

Dawn's flowing voice was easily heard throughout the school. Students filed along at a leisurely pace and went to one of two rooms; the rest of the establishment was outside. Buffy kept walking and found a small group of student crowded around Dawn, one in particular loving her voice.

Buffy walked up to her and greeted her warmly. She stopped singing. "Oh, it's the fairy girl again!"

"Hi, fairy girl!" her fan club said.

"I heard that you found my dad," Dawn said. "How did you like the castle? Did you see the Princess?" She giggled for no obvious reason. Buffy tried hard not to back away. "Dad came home in a hurry after you found him. Oh yeah, I have to introduce you to my best friend, fairy girl!"

She turned and beckoned to the boy who was about six inches away from Dawn. "He's this guy. His name's Riley. Isn't he cute?"

Buffy frowned and Riley ran away at the sight of Buffy… apparently he was shy with everyone except Dawn. This was not lost on the girl; "It seems Riley's afraid of you, fairy girl…" she giggled again. "My mother composed this song, but the lyrics to it compose a spell. Let's sing together!"

Buffy took out her spell book. Dawn gasped and clapped her hands. "Oh, are you going to write the lyrics down in that spellbook? Okay, here we go…"

She opened her mouth and sang the lyrics four times. Buffy only wrote it twice. "_Joli prof… Joli prof…_" she sang, giggling and then repeating it. Buffy got it down and the page shimmered, the standard cursive writing appeared saying _You've learned The Riley Summons!_

Buffy frowned at the cursive and asked Dawn what the text meant. "Oh! It means 'lovely teacher' in french. It used to be the school's theme song, but… but she… she died, and it hurt dad too much to keep it. I sing it all the time, and Riley's really taken a liking to it. He's shy, but he's nice. He runs so fast, too… a lot faster than anyone I've ever seen!"

Buffy bade goodbye to the weird girl and repeated the words when she was out of earshot. Riley immediately ran up to her. Buffy smiled at him, and he smiled back. "I'm Buffy," she said.

"I'm Riley, and I like that song. Dawn sings it." He looked down. "Can… we be friends?" he asked her hesitantly.

Buffy grinned. "Sure," she said.

Riley grinned back. "I can run really fast and I give piggy backs to some of the littler kids. They love it. When I'm older I plan to make a career out of it," he told her triumphantly, and then ran away as though to prove that he wasn't lying.

Angel chuckled after the kid and suggested to Buffy that they check out the classrooms and then skadaddle. Buffy agreed and walked into the one on her right; small children walked about the room and Robin Wood lay sleeping in the middle of the floor amidst the chaos. Three of the children tugged at his sleeves. He didn't notice.

Buffy cleared her throat. Wood jolted himself awake. "Huh? I'm awake already!" he said stupidly, and then saw the grinning person in front of him. "What? Well, I'll be! If it isn't that forest kid from the other day! Thanks for waking me up, really. It took some doing, but I finally got Dawn back in a good mood. So, what are you up to today?"

"Nothing much," Buffy admitted. "I was curious about your school, so I came to visit."

Wood nodded. He looked nervously around at the kids. "Want to play a game with them? I've got something for you if you do, I'm just… really tired."

Buffy nodded. "Sure."

The three kids surrounding him exchanged urgent looks and ran away with the rest. Wood sighed. "Those three kids really have to go to the bathroom. Now they're running around amidst the rest of the students and I can't tell who's who. If you can pick all three out in thirty seconds and send them upstairs, I'll give you something… good. It'll help you on your trek."

Buffy winced, but agreed. Wood smiled appreciatively. "Great, thanks. Please hurry," he said, and Buffy disappeared into the gaggle of children, picking them up one by one. At one point Wood cried, "That's one!" Buffy sent him upstairs and went looking for the other two.

At five seconds left, Buffy picked up the final one and Buffy sent her upstairs, too. She went over to Wood, smiling. "Hey, you," he said, amazed. "You've got the talent to be one of the world's best teachers. Can I offer you a job?"

Buffy hesitated. "…Er…"

Wood chuckled. "I'm just kidding. You've got a world to save, way I hear it." He shook his head and pulled something out from behind him. "Here. My last dose of magic milk. This rejuvenates me after every day, but Cordelia won't let me in to get more. I've been saving this last one… that's why I've been sleeping so much lately." He sighed. "It'll heal you the equivalent of five hearts. When the bottle's empty, you can put other stuff in it. Take care; it's glass."

Buffy thanked him and put it in her hat. By the time she was done, Wood was already asleep again, so she and Angel crept out and went to inspect the other classroom to see if it was as chaotic.

It really, really wasn't.

Buffy looked around at the subdued children. They all wore thick glasses and they were all watching their assignments very closely as they wrote them. A frazzled-looking woman stood amongst them. Buffy went up to greet her.

"Thank God! Somebody to rant to," the woman said. "I have been in this classroom for a very long time, you know. And does Robin ever give me credit for it? No! He sits around and sleeps all day in his classroom, while I'm stuck in here with these incredibly boring people, and I don't even get paid as much as he does! I should be principal around here, but noooo, because his wife created the school, he gets to be principal. And then he comes in here and expects the kids to use their chemistry and make him more of that milk of strength? Puh-leeze! I don't think so. I should be the one in charge. I'm the one who does all the work!"

Buffy blinked. "Uh… hi. I'm Buffy," she finally got in.

The woman smiled sarcastically. "I'm Cordelia." She inspected Buffy carefully. "And unless you're here to learn something, get out! They don't need this kind of fashion disaster distracting them from their work."

Buffy raised her eyebrows and turned away, walking out the door and back into Sunnydale central. "Well, she was unpleasant," she said to Angel, who had still not stopped laughing from the Cordelia encounter.  



	6. Interlude: To Death Mountain Part II

Angel finally took a breath. Buffy waited patiently inside the school perimeter so she didn't waste any time. "Okay," he said at long last. "Okay. Let's go across the bridge and inspect this town Tara told us about."

Buffy nodded. "Right. Town. On my way." She left the school and walked out onto the field. She noticed a tinny tune in the background and looked around with a furrowed brow. "Where the hell is that coming from?"

Angel blinked. "What?"

"The music."

"Oh. You didn't hear that before?"

"No."

"Oh yeah. It changes every time we walk into a new location."

"…Why?"

Angel frowned, in a fairy-like way. "I don't know. It's just… been that way, since I found you. Even in the forest there was a silly tune in the background."

Buffy looked around some more. "Huh," she commented, and started running toward Death Mountain. Only a second later she slowed to a walk. "Why the hell am I running?"

Angel sighed. "Because you're saving Sunnydale. It's sort of an urgent matter, if you ask me."

"But everyone else around here walks. Why do I have to run?"

"Again with the saving Sunnydale. Now stop asking questions. This is a fanfiction about a videogame; this makes things even more unbelievable than normal. Just get to town, already. Wouldn't you rather run?"

"No."

"Too bad. Get moving, hero."

Buffy stepped into town and was immediately greeted by a small child.

"What the hell?"

Angel flew around, laughing. "Go find someone in town looking worried. I bet someone will want that kid back… he looks kind of distressed."

Buffy saw that he was right… the kid was clucking. She nodded. "All right." She went through town and Angel pointed out at least two more of the children, flailing around and all clucking. Finally she encountered a woman standing by a low cage with a horrified expression on her face.

"All the kids got away," she wailed. "I… I can't pick them up. They're… scary."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "You're scared of children?"

The woman nodded. "They're very peculiar creatures, children. They've got diapers and what have you… I just get the heebie jeebies thinking about it."

"Don't you think maybe you should have chosen a different career?"

The horrified expression became that of great sarcasm on the caretaker's face. "There are three careers in this town: Construction, shopkeeping, and caretaker. I'm too frail for construction, and I recently got fired from my tenth shopkeeping job because I withheld receipts again. There aren't any more stores in town." she explained, her voice turning back into a wail. "And if I anyone pays enough attention to realize that their children are running loose through town, I'll be fired from the last available job in town. I'll have to leave and find work elsewhere otherwise. And I don't want to do that."

Buffy nodded. "Don't worry. I'll gather them for you. But really, you need to learn to get over this stupid fear. I was afraid of leaving my forest until yesterday, when this nuisance of a fairy came out of nowhere, and now I'm going to save Sunnydale."

The woman smiled. "Oh. Neat. I wish I had that job."

Buffy shook her head. "No you don't. High pressure. What's your name?"

"Joyce."

"Hi, Joyce, I'm Buffy. This is my fairy Angel. We'll get your kids in no time, just… sit tight." Buffy went back to the entrance of the town and picked up the child, who promptly stopped clucking and began kicking and screaming. Buffy had to hold him at arm's length to prevent getting kicked in the face. Finally she put the annoying kid down in the pen and turned to Joyce. "Okay, Joyce. I've got a job for you. See that kid right behind you? Pick it up and put it in the pen. Just one. You have to get over this phobia. It's stupid and you'll be fired more easily if you don't get over it."

Buffy traveled throughout the town, accumulating children and putting them in the pen. She found one up top and didn't look where she was going, accidentally stepping off a roof and instantly terrified that she was going to fall.

Instead she floated gracefully down to the ground. The child's flailing arms had provided enough air resistance that she was in no danger. "Cool," she breathed, and ran back up the stairs to do the same thing again, this time aiming at a platform with another child on it with no access. The landed gracefully, put the original child down, and picked up the other one, jumping off. She put it in the pen and ran back to get the other one.

Joyce was still struggling with the child near her. She stepped close to it, tried to hold its hand and lead it away, but it wrenched free and clucked further away.

Buffy ran around town and tried to find more. She encountered a gate with a child behind it, but there was no way to get across; not even jumping from the windmill entrance platform with allow her to make it. She ran back to the pen, grabbed a child and jumped, using the flailing to try and get across. She threw it back over the fence once she succeeded and glanced after it in horror, making sure it was okay.

It was fine. It clucked. Joyce, still chasing her child, was nearby, and looked in horror at Buffy when there were two. Buffy grabbed the kid, threw it over with the other two, and climbed up the ladder that was there just in case there were more.

There was. She put it in the pen and was amazed to see Joyce coming back with two of the screaming children, holding them by the straps of their overalls and wincing as she put them in the pen.

"Am I done? Do I have to get the other one?" she asked pitifully. Buffy shook her head and got it for her. Joyce counted. "We're still short one."

"What?" Buffy asked. "I looked everywhere."

Joyce looked panicked. "Oh God, oh God…"

Buffy sighed. "But I'll look again. After that I can't help you." She ran around town once more annoyedly, Angel flying around and trying to point out anything weird. As they approached a box, Angel stopped Buffy in her tracks.

"What's that noise?" he asked quietly. Buffy crept around and was led to a wooden box; it was clucking enthusiastically.

"The kid wandered into a box?" she asked, and tried to lift it (to no avail). She took out her sword and tried to slash it open.

Nothing worked. She stood back and stared at it. Angel flew up and down. "Try rolling."

She glared at the fairy. "Rolling won't make the box disappear, Angel."

"No, but rolling into it might make it explode." Still Buffy frowned.

"That doesn't make sense."

"I already told you that little does in this world. Just try it."

She did. The box exploded, and the child clucked away unscathed.

"That's so damn weird."

"And that's the fifth time you've said that in the past two days. Get the kid and let's get going. We've wasted too much time for no reason."

Buffy put the kid back in his pen and Joyce clapped emphatically. "Thank you so much! Oh, oh. Okay. I've got something for your trouble."

Buffy smiled and turned to her fairy. "See? Not for no reason," she mumbled.

"Oh, here it is." She pulled out a jar. "It's glass, so be careful, but it can hold lots of useful things. Good luck on your saving Sunnydale… I'm sorry to distract you."

Buffy took the jar graciously. It promptly disappeared. Buffy looked around. "Hey… where'd it go?"

But Joyce had turned away and was tending to the children. She scattered break throughout the pen with a slightly disgusted look on her face. Angel jiggled. "It's okay, it just went to your START menu."

Buffy blinked. "My what menu?"

"Your START… oh god, you don't even know… Even more sheltered than I thought," the fairy muttered. He shook his head. "Go into the graveyard and I'll explain."

Buffy frowned at the fairy. "Are you sure this isn't the town that's called Restfield Cemetery?"

Angel shook his head. "I'm certain that's the town before the castle. This one's called Uncle Rico… but I hear that Warren wants to change it."

"Who's Warren?"

"Groundskeeper for the graveyard. Which is that way. Go."

Buffy went in the direction the fairy implied. "Also, Uncle Rico? Should I even ask?"

Angel shook his head. "Probably not."

Buffy sighed. "Okay. Something about a menu? Which would be great at this point, since I haven't eaten in about 48 hours… but why aren't I hungry?"

"You're not tired, either. And you never will be until you get back home, to the forest, and stay there for the equivalent of a day. Never mind. Long story. Your START menu is a place where you store things too big for your hat. The START stands for Simply Terrible Ability for Retaining Things. It holds your bottles, and now the Forestfolk Emerald, since when the Great Watcher Giles died he decided your hat was no place to hold such things. The START menu is also the only way you can view a map. By the way, you can only hold three things in your hat at a time; you have to visit the menu to interchange items. Right now I think your spellbook, your slingshot and Willow's letter are in your hat."

Buffy blinked as she slowly took in all this information. "So…" she said eventually as they walked into the graveyard, where it was inexplicably raining. "How do I access the START menu?"

"Think about it. NOT NOW, wait until I'm done explaining," Angel said hurriedly. "If you think about accessing the START menu, it'll happen, but there are consequences; time stops, you stop, everything becomes a void except your mind can visualize the start menu. Once you've done what you want to, mentally close the START menu and reality will come back without a hitch. It's weird. You can try it if you want, but you won't hear me—"

Buffy cut him off and instantly thought about the START menu. Suddenly she couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe… everything stopped except for her racing mind and four screens. One was an image of her with images of what she wore, with space for more options; one was a map of Sunnydale, most of it clouded over, telling her the current position was the graveyard; one was a listing of her items, three of them highlighted as the ones she had in her hat. The final screen showed her spells, how many Gold Skulltulas she'd killed, the Forestfolk Emerald, and an empty heart. She thought she should get out and reality flickered back, as though she'd only blinked. Time had not passed.

"—while you're in there. In fact, I won't be talking… the world won't exist," he finished. He looked at her expectantly. "So… go ahead."

"I already did," she said. "You were halfway through a sentence. And that's…"

"Let me guess… damn weird?"

Buffy grinned. "Good call. So… why are we here?" she asked, looking around the graveyard.

Angel frowned and swung around, looking at where they were. "Oh! Right. Well, there are legends about a metal shield hidden beneath one of these graves, and I thought we could use one. I hear you can buy them, but for more money than you can carry at this point, so…"

"We're stealing again? And from DEAD PEOPLE?"

"Buffy, let it go. Just trust me. Have I been wrong yet?"

"…No…"

"Right. So start looking." With that, Buffy sighed and looked hesitantly around the graveyard for any sign of where a shield might be hidden.  



	7. Interlude: To Death Mountain Part III

"Maybe ask that boy over there," Angel suggested after a spell, beckoning toward the boy pacing in front of the rudimentary establishment in the corner of the graveyard. 

Buffy walked slowly up to the kid… he had a stick and was mumbling under his breath about something. He looked up when she approached.

"Hi," he said conversationally. "I'm only here because Warren won't let me go on the Gravedigging tour, so I come all the time to bug him about it. Mom won't let me come at night, though, and he's always asleep during the day…"

Buffy blinked. "That's… nice. What's your name?"

The boy jumped once. "I'm Andrew. I'm not supposed to talk to people."

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you… I only want to ask a question."

Andrew pouted and crossed his arms. "It's not that. Mom says people get really weirded out around me, and she likes to have friends, so I'm supposed to stay quiet." He jumped again. "I don't, though. I like to talk and make muffins."

Buffy nodded and glanced at Angel. "Great. Say, do you know if there's a shield hidden around here somewhere?"

Andrew nodded and pointed to a grave nearby. "There's one under there. Warren told me once to try and get me to go away." The boy ran and stood protectively in front of it. "But you're not going to look! I'll tell Warren, and then you'll be sorry!"

Buffy frowned. "Oh…kay. Well, nice talking to you… I'm just going to look around a little, and then I'll be out of your way." She backed slowly away and walked toward the back of the graveyard. "Geez, that kid was weird. I feel sorry for him, really," she mumbled to the fairy, and stopped dead in front of a large grave. There was a symbol on the ground that she recognized…

"Box of Gavrok," Angel muttered.

"Hey, check it. You're right," she said happily. "Now, where did I put my… oh no. You're going to tell me to access my inner START menu, aren't you."

"Good call," Angel said smugly. Buffy sighed and focused.

Instantly everything stopped, just as it had before. The map portion of the menu came up, and Buffy switched her mind around until she accessed the spellbook screen. She blinked hard and came out of the screen land. "Ouvre, par puissance du roi," Buffy muttered quietly with a perfect French accent that she didn't know she had.

Suddenly, the sky turned stormier than it had been; the rain started to come down harder. "Hey!" shouted Angel, and brought her attention back to the huge headstone that was there. It began to glow; energy gathered behind it and Buffy was instantly reminded of one of the spells Xander tried to cast.

Unexpectedly, the gravestone exploded. Buffy screamed and flung herself to the ground for cover, but little else happened; when she and Angel chanced a look again, the gravestone had exploded and in its place sat a small hole.

"You want me to go down there, don't you," she asked the fairy, prepared to be indignant about it.

"If it had a Box of Gavrok in front of it, there can't be much bad down there," he told her.

She glared at him. "If it's a grave, something dead is down there. I don't like dead things. They tend to be icky."

"Oh please. You're never going to save Sunnydale with that sort of attitude," Angel said indignantly. "But fine. If you want certain peril to rain down, then…"

"Oh, shut up. I'll go already," she said annoyedly to her fairy, and jumped down the hole without further hesitation.

"Bats," Angel whispered the second she hit the ground.

"Bats?"

"Bats. One above the entry and three more inside. I can sense them. Slingshot 'em, please. Bats and fairies have never gotten along."

"Four dead bats, coming up," Buffy murmured, taking out her slingshot and shooting the nearest one down in one swift movement. She ran into the room full of bones fearlessly and shot down the two bats she saw immediately ahead of her. "Where's the other one?" she asked herself alive.

Angel flew over to her right. "Hey!" he called to her. The bat, like the others, seemed to be asleep. Buffy shot it down and Angel flew back over to her quickly. "Thank God. I haaaaaaate those things," he drew out, shivering. Buffy whirled around as the bars across the door in front of her were lifted.

But instead of moving on, she walked slowly throughout the room. "So many dead," she whispered. "This isn't a traditional tomb. I'm sorry, but something weird is going on. If it was an actual tomb…"

"The skeletons wouldn't be scattered like this," Angel finished. He flew over to one complete skeleton and began to mutter: "Those who enter the royal tomb will be obstructed by the living dead."

"See?" Buffy asked. "I told you we shouldn't have come down here."

"Don't rub it in. We're here now, let's keep going."

"Fine, fine. You're lucky I have this burning desire to be a hero. Otherwise we'd have been out of here before you could say… uh, let's get out of here."

"Such a well-spoken girl," the fairy said sarcastically and followed Buffy as she ran toward the door to the next room.

"I'm not going into that room," Buffy said the second the door closed behind her. A moaning was instantly heard; a green, steaming, and obviously poison substance filled the crevasses in the room.

"You have to."

"But, I'm not."

"But, you have to. Just run past them. I've seen these before. They'll kill you slowly and painfully by sucking the life force out of the back of your head, and they'll freeze you so they can catch you…"

"Gee, thanks for the inspiration."

"But keep running and don't try to move when they freeze you, and you'll make it through. I have a feeling I know what's on the other side of this room, and it'll help you considerably. I hope," Angel added under his breath.

"I heard that."

"Well, good. I'm not going to lie to you. It's too easy to die. But if you're brave, then you'll live one hell of a lot longer."

Buffy sighed and stared into the room, trying not to let the green steam sting her eyes. "Well, you know what they say… there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity." Slowly she stepped forward, caught one sight of what surely was the living dead, and tried to back away.

"Don't falter! Run forward or they'll kill you!" Angel shouted, and flew forward to prove to her that forward was the way she had to go. She took a deep breath and ran, veering left and missing the one that seemed to be in her way.

She was silently congratulating herself when she heard a scream and found herself unable to move. She ceased trying, despite her claustrophobia settling in, and the living dead looked around, saw nothing, and Buffy soon found herself able to move again. She got through and ran until she was in a dead end.

"Nothing's following," Angel reassured her.

"I screamed. I didn't even mean to, it just happened…"

"You didn't. They did. They like intruders because they can eat them. They haven't eaten in a long time. They scream in delight when they freeze you because they think they notice something, but they're deeply stupid, and sort of blind. So you got away."

"If you weren't so goddamn helpful, I'd wring your little fairy neck. You know that, right?"

"And respect it. Now, read what you're leaning against. I hope I'm right."

The wall behind her was covered in strange writing. Buffy looked at it for a while and realized she could read it. It gave her a poem devoted to the royal family in what was obviously French.

_The rising sun will eventually set, a newborn's life will fade  
From sun to moon, moon to sun…  
Give peaceful rest to the living dead._

"I was right," Angel muttered happily. "This makes the living dead sleep. They won't notice you or attack you if you say the last line in their presence; the middle line is another spell. It turns night into day and day into night, so you don't have to fight the vampires anymore. Write them both down." 

"Thank God," Buffy said, the spellbook suddenly appearing in her hands.

"That was cool. START menu?"

"Yep. I'm slowly getting used to it, but it still seems kind of like an abyss, you know?"

"I know. Now, say that last line once we get into the next room and let's get out of this god-forsaken grave," Angel muttered.

"Here, here," Buffy agreed, creeping into the next room and saying, "_Donne de la paix aux mortes vivantes_". The living dead instantly crystallized. Buffy hurried through and stepped into the light teleport she hadn't seen when she'd jumped down.

She appeared back in the graveyard. Still it rained, but it was night time now. Angel flew up and joined her. "Warren," he muttered, beckoning at the hunched figure tending to the graves. "Ignore him. There's a grave with flowers in front of it. Pull it back and jump in." 

She started to pull the grave Angel beckoned to back without protest so as not to catch the Gravekeeper's attention. But still…

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Interfering with your dreary graveyard. No one's ever in here, it's not like anyone would notice."

"Except, oh, maybe… the dead people you're interfering with!"

"Oh, they don't mind, really. They like the company."

Warren glared at Buffy. "If you don't get out of my graveyard right the hell now, you'll be joining the dead since I'll whack you with this shovel."

"Oh, shut it," Buffy said, jumping into the grave without so much as another glance at the skulky man. She could hear him still shouting as she landed, but she paid no attention.

There was nothing in this grave except two chests. Of course, one was a treasure chest, and the other was a collection of rib bones. Buffy opted to open the treasure chest.

Angel cleared his throat as something leapt out of Buffy's reach. "You've found this metal shield! It's a little big for you right now, but you can use it to protect yourself from fire and falling lava rocks, whereas the basic shield will simply be eaten away by these things! Haha… ahem. Well, retail value of this lovely piece of armour stands at about 200 rupees, so you'd better thank that talented fairy of yours for bringing you down here… otherwise, you'd be out a pretty penny!"

"Good God. Now you're advertising yourself as well as the things I get?" Buffy asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah, well. That whole routine gets stagnant after a while. Besides, I feel underappreciated," the fairy sniffed sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's scram. Where next?" she asked, taking the teleport. Before Angel could catch up and answer, Buffy was faced by Warren.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm sorry, but I'm having a bad day. Leave now, and we won't have a problem. Got it?"

"Got it," Buffy nodded. She pushed past Warren and shouted over her shoulder, "but if you threaten me again, we will have a problem." And with that, Buffy pushed past Warren back into Uncle Rico village.


	8. Interlude: To Death Mountain Part IV

Following Angel's instructions, Buffy went through the town, which was extremely dull at night, and found a guard standing by a gate up the mountain. Buffy brought out Willow's note and handed it to the guard. "Look," she said shortly. "I have to get up the mountain, and I'm not really thrilled about it, what with it being called 'Death Mountain' and all. So, can I just get through and not bother explaining what I'm doing? Because I'm kind of in a hurry if I want to save… uh…"

"Sunnydale?" the guard provided. Then he burst out laughing. "You're going to save Sunnydale. You're just a kid!"

"That's my excuse, but no one else will have any of it," Buffy sighed.

"Well, this is definitely the Princess' handwriting, so I have to let you up, but if you get the chance, would you pick up a mask from Restfield Cemetery? My son wants one and I have no time to get it. You don't have to, but… he likes them." The guard cleared his throat. "I mean, if you're not off… saving Sunnydale or anything," he recovered, chuckling.

"Uh… right. Well, I'll try," Buffy said, going through the gates up to the mountain. She shook her head once she was out of earshot. "Everyone expects so much of me. Like I'm really going to go and get him a… giant red spider," she finished loudly, ducking it and unsheathing her sword. She killed it quickly with two hits, but she felt half a heart slip away from her meter. She continued slowly around the corner and was quickly pursued by another of the giant spiders.

"Just run past them, they're slow enough. Don't waste time," Angel told her after she'd killed the second one. She ran past the third and ignored the fourth as it tried to attack her from above. She passed a strange-looking brown rock and wanted to explore, but Angel prompted her forward. "There'll be more further up. You can talk to them. Ignore that one," he whispered to her. She kept running until she came across a flagpole with pants flying as a flag.

"Geez," she said. "What I wouldn't do for some pants right now. These tunics are getting kind of old," she admitted. Suddenly another brown rock stood up and started talking to her.

"They say that a beautiful fairy lives on the top of Death Mountain!" he said in a beautiful deep voice. "Don't you want to see her?" he asked strangely.

"Um, actually, I think I've got enough of a fairy following me around. Thanks for asking, though," Buffy told him as she walked toward town. "Is that why you told me not to talk to that one?" she asked Angel.

"No, I told you not to talk to the one below because you were being chased by red spiders. Head to the right of the pantsflag, I think it's the Initiative up ahead."

"What's the Initiative?" Buffy asked.

"An underground establishment that used to find demons and examine them, making the odd one harmless. But a giant battle caused the Sunnydale Council to decide to fill it in with stones. These folk, who happen to be harmless vampire types, like to eat rocks instead of people nowadays. So they ate away, and now live in the old Initiative, where they were all made harmless in the first place."

"That's… a damn weird story, Angel," Buffy said before avoiding a rolling Initiative resident. "What the hell are these harmless vampires called?"

"Harmless Vampires. But in French they're called Gorons. You could call them that."

"Sounds good. Is… that the place?" she asked, standing in front of a hole in the side of the mountain with stairs leading up to it.

"That's the place. Go on in. No one'll hurt you. These Gorons are really harmless and actually quite fluffy nowadays. Very nice folk, but kind of weird. The only completely sane one is the boss."

"Who's the boss?"

Angel hesitated. "I'll… let you meet him."

Buffy walked in and was greeted by another of the Gorons. He stood up to greet her and she walked over to the weary-looking former vampire. "I'm so hungry," he said wearily. "Our food crop is missing and we're in danger of extinction. It's all because we can't enter Chirago's Cavern."

"What's a Chirago?" Buffy muttered to Angel.

"I'll explain later," Angel responded.

"We Gorons live on a diet of rocks, since we've had these chips or what have you in our heads. And the best rocks, that remind us of our people-eating days, are found in the cavern. But that seems…" The Goron shook his head. "We've become so greedy with our people-tasting rocks that we can't eat them from anywhere else. Either that, or we just don't want to. We've had to change our eating habits drastically once already in our lives, we just don't want to do it again." The Goron moaned and sat down again. "So… hungry…"

Buffy walked slowly away. "I want to help these guys."

"Good. Go to the bottom level, that's where the boss lives. I imagine he's probably a wreck," Angel muttered. Buffy jumped down one level and then another, coming out of each fall with a roll. Buffy stood in front of the door that Angel directed her to, but there was no obvious way in. Buffy noticed how plush the carpet was under her feet. A Goron nearby caught her attention. He stood up immediately and smiled wearily at Buffy.

"Big Brother has shut himself up in his room. He said, 'I'm not coming out of this bleeding room until the messenger from the Royal Family finally decides to show up.' He's not in his best mood ever… well, actually, he's never in a really good mood…"

Buffy thanked the Goron and stood in front of the door, staring at it for a while. "Okay, well. This makes no sense at all. I'm the messenger, and there's no way in." Buffy sighed.

"Buffy. Royal. Family. Put it together. What did the Royal Family give you?"

Buffy grinned. "Oh, right. _Ouvre, par puissance du roi_," Buffy muttered. The door immediately slid open and she smiled at her fairy. "Okay. You're redeemed. I don't feel like wringing your neck anymore."

"Appreciated," Angel said. Buffy walked through the door and was greeted by a very blonde Goron, standing perfectly still in the middle of the room, looking surly.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" he asked, glancing at Buffy.

"I'm the messenger you've been waiting for," Buffy said.

The Goron laughed evilly. "The hell you are. Surely I, the great Spike, hasn't lost so much stature as to be sent some six year-old girl." The former vamp's face turned dark. "Piss off. I have no time for this sort of thing."

"Geez, lighten up," Buffy muttered as she turned to leave.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she found herself facing a very angry Goron with excellent facial structure. It took her a moment to realize that it was still Spike. "Lighten up? I will not bloody well lighten up. These Chirago demons came and infested the cave that supplies food to us Initiative victims. I won't lighten up until they are out of that bloody cave and my people can eat again. But this is a Goron problem. More specifically, my problem. And if you don't get the hell out of my face, you're going to have a different sort of problem in the sense that I don't bloody well care how many migraines I get, I will suck you dry until you haven't a drop of blood left in you. _Then_ we'll see who has the bloody problem."

Spike stepped away and walked slowly back to the exact same spot he'd been standing in before. Buffy stood there in offended disbelief for a second. "You know what? I think you could use a dance. _La Bastrangue_ or something," she shouted after the vampire.

Suddenly he turned, eyes wide, and started to dance like mad. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't dancing of his own free will. He started to scream a little bit until the dance was over, at which point he doubled over and tried to catch unmandatory breath.

"That was bloody creepy. Where'd you learn to do that?" Spike asked once he'd calmed.

"A spell a friend of mine taught me. I didn't think it actually did anything. Cool, though."

"Okay, well, you're powerful. How'd you like to save my people? Great. Here's some bracelet that should help you; you can pick up bombs with this. Otherwise, a kid like you wouldn't be strong enough."

"Hey! Explaining is my job," Angel pouted. Buffy put the bracelet on and felt particularly strong.

"Not so fast, Spike," Buffy said. "I'll do this under one condition; I want the Spiritual Stone of Fire."

Spike turned back to Buffy. "Oh, you do, do you? Isn't that an interesting coincidence. So did the guy who sent the Chiragos there in the first place." Spike sighed. "Fine. Get them gone, all of them, and you can have the bloody ruby."

Buffy nodded. "Good deal. But keep in mind that if you're lying to me, I'll take one of these lovely sticks I have under my hat, and I'll plunge it through your chest and take the ruby anyway."

Spike regarded Buffy carefully. A slow smile spread across his face. "I like you. You're not afraid, unlike the goddamn royal family." Spike sat down in the great stone chair and pressed a button. A projection of _Passions _appeared on the wall behind Buffy. "Chiragos are tough. You'll never beat them unless you're stronger than me, which I personally doubt. But good luck anyway."

Buffy smiled and nodded. "Thanks. I think."

"Now leave. Timmy needs to be sewn up again and I want to know if what's-her-face still has any tolerance left for the little bugger. I'd personally have ripped his head off years ago."

Buffy backed slowly out of the cage and started to climb the stairs back up. "I thought you said the boss was sane," she whispered to Angel.

"I misjudged," he muttered back. "Now go out the way you came and turn to your right. There's a bomb flower that you need to drop over the edge to open the cave. I thought I sensed something demony coming out of there, I just thought it was the spiders," he murmured to himself.

"This the bomb flower?" Buffy asked.

"That's it. Pick it up and drop it. If the boulder doesn't explode, do it again. Once the boulder's exploded, backflip over and get in the cave. It'll hurt, but you barely flinched when Spike was threatening you, so I think you can take it."

"Damn right," Buffy said, uprooting the flower and tossing it over without hesitation. The boulder exploded a few seconds later.

"Whoa. Impressive," Angel managed to get in before Buffy backflipped over the fence and landed hard on her feet before slipping. She massaged her feet for a second before standing and walking slowly into the cave.

"You're sure this is the only way to get the stone?" Buffy asked the fairy, wincing ever so slightly as she walked.

"Pretty well. Spike's always been stubborn."

"You've met him before?"

"Years ago. Long story. Now let's go. Sunnydale's not going to last forever."

Buffy nodded and entered the dark, damp cave.


	9. Inside Chirago's Cavern

"Wow," she said sarcastically upon entering. "Another rock wall." Buffy looked around, saw a bomb flower, and uprooted it easily. She threw it and ran in the other direction. When the bomb exploded, they got their first good look at the cavern: vast, dead, and… red?

"Don't fall off the edge. Lava pits everywhere."

"Nice. Thanks, Mayor guy. Because my feet weren't burning enough as it was." Buffy stepped forward and noticed the huge Chirago skeleton dead ahead. Its empty eyes seemed to stare at every part of the room at once. It freaked her out. On either side of her was a door, but there were lava pits in between her and either door. "What the hell? How do we even get across?"

"Elevating platforms," Angel said dully. "You're getting less and less observant as time goes on."

"I guess I got used to your frequent patronization."

"Stop with the big words and make with the saving the world already."

Buffy rolled her eyes but jumped forward into the centre platform in front of the giant Chirago skull. A statue in the centre of the platform she hadn't noticed before suddenly blinked and shot light at her feet.

"Oh shit," she said, and started running around the statue clockwise. The light chased her just as quickly as she was running away. "What do I do?!"

"Wesley flashes!"

"That's nice Angel, you big perv, but how do I kill this thing?"

"The… flash bombs the Wesleyplants give you."

"Oh. OH. Wesley flashes. Right." She pulled one out and threw it on the ground for lack of better thing to do with it. The statue made a noise that might have been in pain and closed its eye tightly. The light discontinued, and Buffy stopped to catch her breath.

"Hold on, that only stuns it. It'll wake up in a while and chase you again. You have to bomb it."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

"Because you running and trying to throw a bomb at the same time is not something I want to be around for."

"Ha-ha. Make fun of the big damn hero. You know, if I had it my way I'd be frolicking through Sacred Forest Meadow with Xander, but noooo, I have to save the world and stuff. Stupid endangered Sunnydale."

"Getting cranky, are we? There aren't any bombs near enough for you to bomb it with anyway. Now hop one way or another before it wakes up and we have to go through all this again."

Buffy jumped to her left and noted that there were three doors, two rocked in and one with bars, and another of the statues. She shrugged and bombed the wall to the left to find a squeaking Watchershrub of a new calibur behind it. "Uh… hi."

"If you let me go, I'll make you a deal!"

"Oh boy. Another talking Watcherplant. What is with these dungeons and negotiating plants? I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'll sell you a basic shield! One for—"

"Thanks but no thanks. I've got enough to carry."

"Yikes! I'm getting out of here, then!"

"Okey-dokey." Buffy walked away from the plant and bombed the second door, narrowly avoiding the sight line of the eye-statue. She scurried into it when the bomb exploded and opened the chest inside.

"You've found an Interactive Map! Use this to navigate your way around this particular area. Rooms will not show up unless you've been in them, but the room you're in will flash to help you with navigation."

"That's the exact same explanation you gave last time."

"So? I like that explanation."

"But I heard it already. I already know what an Interactive map does."

"Whine, whine, whine. And you yelled at me for being annoying."

Buffy scowled at her fairy but realized he was probably right and tried to lighten her mood by humming as she jumped a couple of platforms and avoided the eye statue. Seeing another few doors and realizing she couldn't reach the second one, she decided to bomb from the right this time. She outran the light from the eye statue and waited for the explosion. A passage opened up and Buffy walked through it.

A third of the way down the corridor, a bit of dust was kicked up and what looked like three very short sumo wrestlers popped up from the ground and ran at her. She judged that they were angry judging by the strange knashing of teeth that was going on. She took out her sword and struck the first one down. It fell onto its back and flailed its limbs for a while.

"Step back, he's going to explode," Angel realized suddenly. Buffy managed to outrun the other two tiny squealing sumo wrestlers as a small explosion was heard behind her.

"What are they?"

"Baby Chiragos."

"Uh-huh, okay. And why do they explode?"

"They get cranky when they land on their backs because they can't get back up again. Another three should pop up before you get to the end, so either make short work of them or run faster."

She fought them, finding she was partially disgusted and partially amused at the demonic sumo wrestlers she was swording through the chest. She reached the end of the corridor and stepped on the switch. The bars on the door went up and she jumped up onto the platform. The bars came back down. "Um… huh?"

"It's a spring-loaded switch."

"Why in the hell would a switch need to be spring-loaded?"

"To piss you off, I guess. Now, be very careful about the advice I'm about to give you, because some of these statues are dormant demons that wake at the touch and others are just statues you can move around. There's absolutely no way to tell the difference, and the demons are kinda harsh, so… try to move the statue onto the switch. I can't really see any other option."

"Okay, but if I get dead, I'm so blaming you." Buffy jumped off the platform and approached the statue hesitantly, poking it with one finger and then withdrawing. When nothing happened, she grabbed onto it and pulled it toward the switch. The bars went back up and she walked into the next room.

"That's no fair! There should be some way for some world-saving person like me to tell the difference." She shot down two bats and hit a couple of jars with her sword. She was getting used to the theft idea.

"Well, there is. Touch it and if it comes at you, it's a demon."

"Yeah, but isn't there a Demon/Statue Deciphering for Dummies route or something?"

"I don't get half the things you say."

Buffy scowled and walked through the next door. It was full of square platforms and lava. She turned sharply when she heard the bars fall across the door behind her. "Uh oh," she said as two creatures fell from the ceiling.

Angel seemed to jump on the spot. "No way! Ninja Chiragos!"

"You're kidding."

"No waaaay! I thought they were a myth! Aw man, this is so cool," he proclaimed as Buffy shielded against an attack from the Ninja Chirago.

"Angel if you could be less excited about the danger I'm in and more focused on helping me I'll be sure to not conveniently forget you in an evil chamber," Buffy said breathlessly, ducking attacks and trying to hit the Ninja back with her sword. She hit it a third time and it retreated. The second one seemed to swing into action.

"Right. Sorry." He hovered for a few seconds and gave her information about their battle patterns in a really excited voice. "They're epic at battle but these guys look fairly young so they trade off every three hits. You're doing fine, they're pretty dumb, but so cool, I mean all their relatives are unbelievably overweight and these guys are just thin as you get. Look at their outfits! Aw man, Ninjas."

"I take it back," Buffy said annoyedly as the second retreated and the first stepped forward again. "If you stop talking altogether, I'll be sure not to aim for you instead of my opponents."

Angel scowled and flew into Buffy's hat but continued to snicker quietly. Buffy hissed as the first Ninja got her arm a couple of times consecutively. She rolled around him and got him in the side a couple of times. He gave one final squeal and hit the ground, shortly disappearing. Buffy took a moment to take a few breaths and attacked the last one with gusto, using her shield for less time and attacking more fiercely. Another three hits and he disappeared, leaving behind a few hearts. She shuddered. "Okay, are those his hearts, or just hearts in general?"

Angel came out from within her hat and stared down. "I don't know. I've never seen a N—"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll just assume not for gross-out purposes." She ate all three quickly and took a deep breath. "Whooo. That's better. I feel cheerier now."

"Good. Let's carry on, I think I hear some bellowing from the next room." Buffy looked and saw that the doors no longer had bars. She walked hesitantly through one and likewise heard the noise Angel was talking about.

"Uh oh. What is it?"

"I think it's your standard-issue Chirago demon." They heard a harmony in the roars. "Two of them. Now, you can fight them, but they're still pretty slow. The only problem is that these guys blow fire."

"Nice. Metal shield equipped."

"Good thinking. I really doubt the doors are open at the other side, but I also doubt defeating two standard-issue Chiragos is the problem. Look for something peculiar in the room."

"If these guys are such a walk in the park, why are the Gorons having so much problem with them?"

"They will die if they catch on fire. Vampires, remember? You've still got the stop, drop and roll tactic to put you out, plus your clothing is pretty fire-proof. With them it's instantaneous."

"Right. Okay. So, peculiar thing, avoid flameys, metal shield. I'm going in." Buffy took a breath and crept through the passage. She peered around the corner and spotted the squat, fat demons moving around the strange corridor. There were three of them, and none of them looked terribly happy. She squinted at something in the shadows of the room and spotted an unlit torch. Seeing a lit one beside her, she took out a stick, lit it, and ran toward the torch. Seeing another not far off, she kept running, and sprinted for the third one before the Chirago could think to breathe fire. A door opened to her right and she shot through it, avoiding a shot of fire from the nearest Chirago.

She exhaled in relief as she went to the end of the corridor, stepped on the switch, and then dropped down without realizing there was a dropoff. "Whoa, what?"

"We're in the central room again. There's the entrance, and there's the door we just went in."

"Oh yeah. Weird. What did that switch even do?"

"Looks like it unbarred the door on the other side of the room."

"Oh. Good." She got up and jumped platforms, ignoring the eye statues. "Why do they have to make everything so complicated? It would have been so much simpler if this door had just been unlocked in the first place. Would have saved time and effort on everyone's part. It's like whoever designed it made some rooms intentionally useless just to confuse newcomers or make them do way too much work."

"Of course the locked doors have nothing to do with the fact that this place is infested with Chiragos."

"Well, I mean, yeah, okay, the forces of evil are at work here, but even evil people should have some courtesy!"

"And if they did, what would separate them from the good people?"

"Well… they could still do mean things, but make it convenient for world-savers like me to defeat them."

"Uh-huh. You keep working on that theory."

Buffy stopped and stared at the large stone wall that began in the middle of the room and spread to one side. It seemed to be completely surrounded by bombs. "Okay. I don't get it."

"Bomb the bombs with the bomb."

"Thank you, Cyrano."

"You know what I mean."

"Which bomb?"

"All of them."

"No, which bomb do I use to bomb the rest of them?"

"This one." Angel flew over to one outside the circle.

"How do you know these things?"

"I feel like Spike crafted this cavern. I know his style. This is something he'd pull."

"Yeah, why do you know his style again?" Buffy picked up the bomb, set it in the space in the middle and backed away. When it exploded, the bombs on either side of it exploded with it, at which point every bomb adjacent exploded until they were all gone. Suddenly the wall shifted and slid slowly down, becoming a staircase. Buffy climbed slowly and listened to Angel stammer through an explanation.

"I… uh. I knew him. We knew each other." He sighed. "I wasn't born a fairy, you know. I'm… repenting. I might have… maybe… done stuff."

"Like what?"

"Um… crime things. Get that," he said, beckoning at the gold skulltula on the wall.

"Yeah, I gathered that when you said the repenty thing. What crime things? Theft? Vandalism?"

"Mass murder."

Buffy stopped and stared at Angel, startled. She was promptly clubbed in the head by a flaming bat. She yelled and took out her sword, slashing blindly with one hand and hitting herself in the head with the other to extinguish the small fire. Then she glanced back at Angel and suddenly surged forward all business-like. Apparently she wasn't happy that her fairy used to be a murderer. Angel rushed to keep up. "But I was a vampire. I'm different now. A gypsy gave me a soul and some warrior stabbed me through the chest right after, and then I was a fairy. It was all very strange. I felt really guilty about it for a while, but the Great Watcher Giles taught me to be one with my surroundings and sent me on a mission to help save the world."

"So you didn't have a soul before?" Buffy asked grudgingly, moving a statue away from a ladder.

"No, I didn't. That's what makes me different from then. I wouldn't even consider killing anyone now."

"Like you could anyway."

"Well, there's that."

"So are all fairies like that?"

"Nope. Just me. An atonement thing."

"So how does that connect you to Spike?" Buffy started to walk across a drawbridge, noticing that she was just on the upper level of the central room. Angel looked down and instructed himself not to do so again. She was still acting somewhat coldly toward Angel, but seemed to have quelled the desire to flee.

"I… made Drusilla a vampire…"

"DRUSILLA'S a vampire?" Buffy yelled in disbelief.

"…Who made Spike a vampire. We all hung out for a while, causing ruckus at Restfield Cemetery… it was a thing. He thinks I'm dead, and I don't want to tell him anything to the contrary. Hey, hey, wait a minute. You don't just walk into a room like that."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Just… see? There, look. There are blades moving back and forth through every horizontal corridor. Take a look around the corner first."

"Yes, mother."

Angel took a sharp intake of breath when Buffy said that. She would ordinarily ask why, but she wasn't feeling quite so endeared to her fairy at the moment and decided to let it slide. As she made her way to the other side of the room, she checked her map. "This is bullshit. Where's the door?"

"Up here," Angel said quietly, floating up.

"Well, cool. A door to explode and no way to explode it."

Angel spotted a bomb and a chest on one of the elevated platforms. "Move that block over here and jump up."

Buffy did so and promptly got the picture. She picked up the bomb flower and threw it at the door. "So... is Drusilla a Goron too, or just your run of the mill vampire?" The bomb bounced off the door and exploded on the ground. Buffy frowned and tried again. The same result. 

"I don't know what she's doing. She seems to be helping you, but she's insane, so it's hard to tell what her motives are."

"Hmm. An insane vampire. That sounds like fun. Your handiwork?"

"...That obvious, huh?"

Buffy made a noise of exasperation, but whether it was at Angel or the door she was still trying to explode was unclear. When a few more tries yielded no result, she jumped across to the door and hit it repeatedly with her sword in frustration. Suddenly she tripped over the edge and managed to land hard on her feet.

"I think it'll stay if you aim for behind the ladder," Angel said quietly. She was grumpy again, or possibly just extremely angry.

"Yeah, yeah. You just know everything, don't you?"

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you upfront, but I really am trying to help."

The bomb finally stayed put and she breathed a sigh of relief as she jumped into the now open doorway. "I know. I'm sorry. But… I don't want to save the world. I just want to lead a normal Forestfolk life, you know? Jam with my fairy and my best friend and lollygag around. I don't want to have a future. None of the other Forestfolk do."

Angel hesitated. "Buffy, you're not…"

"Not what? Not allowed to lead a normal life? Yeah, I know. I have to save Sunnydale. It's a great honour, blah, blah, blah. I'm not backing out, but I'm not just going to let someone else tell me what my destiny is without complaining a little bit." She realized that there was a wall of flame in front of her and stopped talking. "Okay, I don't get it."

"Hit the eye."

Buffy looked around confusedly and finally saw the eye behind the flames. She slungshot it, hopped the platforms, and avoided the baby Chiragos that popped up as she passed. Angel didn't talk. He seemed to be in thought or brooding or something and Buffy didn't really care to interrupt that. He was being quiet! This was a moment to revel in.

The door locked behind her in the next room and two familiar beasts fell from the ceiling. Angel immediately perked up. "Oh, no. Not again." Buffy fought the Ninja Chiragos more easily this time and hopped through the door as soon as possible. "I do not like those things."

"Aw, come on! They're pretty cool."

"You just wish you were a ninja."

"That's true."

Buffy found herself facing another wall of fire. "Okay, at this point someone just ran out of ideas. That's two doppelganger rooms in a row." She hit the eye behind the fire and jumped, but barely stopped herself from jumping forward again. Another wall of fire was waiting. "I don't get it. Again." She looked around and saw another eye to her left. This one seemed to be staring right at her. She shook off the shivers and hit it with her slingshot. Seeing no other flame in sight, she jumped forward and left the room.

They were back in the room with the blades, only higher up this time. Buffy surged forward but a chest caught her attention. She stepped up hesitantly and opened it when a strange bag flew above her head. "Oh shit," she muttered.

"You've found a Bomb Bag! This bag holds 20 bombs and is made out of a stomach of a Chirago demon! What a lucky guy!" The bag disappeared and Buffy shot Angel a look as they walked slowly into the next room.

"Okay, first of all, ew at the stomach thing. And second of all… 'What a lucky guy!'? What was that about?"

"I dunno. I just thought you were… lucky… and deserved to be called lucky… because… you are…" Angel glanced at Buffy and saw she wasn't buying it. "I don't know. I seemed like the thing to say! There's no crime in that."

"You're a weird ex-vampire fairy, you know that?"

"In a good way, though, right?"

Buffy turned and smiled. "I couldn't ask for a better one."

Angel blushed in a fairy sort of way.

Buffy found they were in the main room again and stepped on a switch. She looked around to see if something happened but nothing seemed to. "Well, that was useful." Suddenly one of the platforms from down below came up to meet her. She jumped. Angel laughed.

"I guess that's so you don't have to go through the entire dungeon again."

"Oh. Well, for bad guys, that was certainly a considerate move."

"…True. Probably one of Spike's additions again."

Buffy scrunched her nose and began to read a nearby plaque distractedly. "It's so weird to think of you and Spike back in the day. What did you look like as a vampire?"

Angel frowned. "You do understand the lack of logic in that question, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't have a reflection as a vampire."

"Oh! Oh yeah. Well… what did you look like as a human, then?"

"Um, I don't remember, it was years ago. Hey… what are you doing?"

Buffy was standing just in front of one of the gaps in the bridge and dropped a bomb through it. They both watched as the bomb fell in the eye of the giant Chirago skull and exploded. The eye turned red. Buffy looked satisfied and did the same to the other eye. "I read that funny plaque behind us."

"Oh. Oh, well, okay, I guess you can take advice from other sources… I mean, it's not like I'm following you around for your own benefit or anything…"

"Be quiet, mister jealous pants. I still need you by my side. Surely you remember something about your appearance."

"I… don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

The second bomb exploded and both eyes turned red. Suddenly the ground started shaking ever so slightly and the mouth to the skull opened slowly. Buffy jumped down, took the shock from the fall fairly well, and looked at the skull with disgust. "Do I have to go in there?"

"Yes."

"Whyyyyy?"

"Because."

"It's icky. I don't want to explore the remains of a really big Chirago demon."

But Buffy, the trooper that she was, trudged forward into the Chirago demon only to find that there were only more rooms on the other side, not icky flesh hanging everywhere. "Come on. What did you look like?" She jumped into a dip in the middle of the room, stepping on a switch and having the bars open on a nearby door. "Okay, I doubt this is that easy." She climbed out and the bars fell back down. "Typical." She looked around and got clubbed in the head by another flaming bat. She took out her sword and swung wildly again, generally missing and running to the room from the right of the entrance to get out of the way.

"I guess I kinda had this overhanging forehead thing going on. Dark hair, dark, intense eyes…" Buffy giggled. Angel blushed again. "I heard it from another source, okay! Those were her words, not mine."

"Uh-huh. Okay." Giggle giggle. Angel scowled.

"Hey Buffy. There are flaming bats in this room. Try not to get hit in the head by one this time, okay?"

"Ooh. Now who's cranky?"

"It's just that I kinda resent that I'm a fairy now. I don't even look like anything. I'm like a fuzzy warm puffball that talks and flies."

"Aw, come on. You're probably at least as cute now as you were then."

"Sure, but… huh?"

Buffy smiled and climbed the blue blocks. She walked along one of the walls and kept a lookout for flaming bats. She jumped down, hit the pots, and quickly caught a pink fairy in a jar. Walking through the corridor, she saw the first room she was in and a block in front of her. She got the gist and pushed the block off the ledge and down into the hole with the switch, all the while watching for flaming bats. She hurtled for the door and shut it quickly behind her.

The room was empty aside from a chest straight ahead. Buffy opened it and took out the bombs inside before trying to figure out what the room was all about. She noticed a hollow noise when she walked across the centre section of the floor. Placing a bomb, she ran in the other direction and waited for the explosion. She peered down and saw a giant pit of lava. They both heard a strange grumbling from beneath. Buffy looked nervously at Angel. "I guess I'm supposed to go down there, huh?"

"I think so."

"I really don't want to."

"I really don't blame you."

Buffy smiled at her fairy, held her breath and jumped down. She managed not to scream and landed relatively softly on her feet. She heard a stirring behind her and the ground vibrated heavily. She turned slowly around and looked up. Waaaaay up.

---

The giant Chirago loomed over her head and roared. Angel was shouting instructions. "He'll try to breathe fire at you and when he opens his mouth to do so you have to throw a bomb in before he gets a chance. Be quick and ready to run if you don't throw the bomb in time."

Buffy took a bomb out immediately and threw it in while the Chirago was in mid-inhale. He took it in and it exploded inside. He squealed in pain and suddenly rolled up and came rolling toward her at a significant pace.

"Oh, shit. Run. Run run run run!" Angel was shouting.

"Way ahead of you," she said, turning and running away.

"You won't make it. Try to hide in this corner and let him pass by. He should stop and we can repeat the process." Buffy nodded and stowed away in the corner, squealing and shutting her eyes hard as the demon came toward her. He smashed into the wall beside her and rolled away again. She opened one eye hesitantly and breathed a sigh of relief, running after him. He hit the opposite wall but stopped this time, turning slowly. Buffy suddenly thought of what she'd tell Xander when they next saw each other and what his reaction would be when she told him she'd fought a 20-foot tall Sumo wrestler. She giggled as she took out the next bomb and lit it quickly.

After throwing, running, throwing, running, and throwing yet again, the demon had had enough. It roared in anguish and rolled into the pit of lava, twitching as it went down. Buffy bent over and put her hands on her knees, watching the proceedings and catching her breath. The lava cooled and soon looked walkable. She went over to the strange heart and reached out to it hesitantly. It jumped immediately above her head.

"You got a heart container!" Angel announced. "Your maximum life energy is increased by one heart." The feeling of absolute rejuvenation hit Buffy again, and she felt more awake and stronger than she had before. She smiled at Angel.

"So. In your professional opinion, Mr. Fairy, do you believe that Spike will actually give me the Spiritual Stone of Fire?"

Angel put on an announcer voice. "Well, Buffy, if he does it would be a first for him. However, the word on the street is that he's been a man of his word since he was forced off human blood, so it's pretty much a toss up from my point of view. Now here's Squire with a look at sports."

Buffy grinned and skipped girlishly over to the blue splay of light. "You're a big goof sometimes, you know that?"

Angel smiled and flew into her hat. "Yeah. I know."

Buffy stepped into the light and let herself be transported out of the cavern.  



	10. Interlude: To Zora's Domain Part I

She landed softly on the ground outside the cavern. She took a deep breath, reveling in the fresh air, and then turned abruptly toward the cavern when she heard a voice behind her.

"So. You made it, did you?"

Buffy smiled at Spike. "Yeah. I did."

"So we're demon-free in there, yeah?"

"Should be. Right?" she asked Angel quietly.

"Once we killed the big guy, the rest of them probably scampered off. It's demon free."

"Well. Good," Spike said, obviously fighting with himself internally. Suddenly one of the two Gorons standing behind him happily went up to Spike and whispered excitedly in his ear. Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh. Right." He sighed and, judging by the expression on his face, he was only saying this to please his royal subjects. "For all your hard work how'd you like to be an honorary Goron."

"Um?"

"There's no ceremony or anything. I wasn't actually asking, I was telling. You're… family now." He said it as though he had something especially bitter in his mouth. He shook his head. "Well, you're better than that Wilkins fellow, the mayor of the Gerudos or whatever. He was the one who did this when I wouldn't give him the stone. So… I guess you can have it. For a while."

Buffy grinned as the Stone appeared above her head. Angel cleared his throat. "You obtained the Goron's Ruby! This Spiritual Stone of Fire was passed down from the Gorons. You don't know what he means by 'Honorary Goron', but no one really does, so we'll just let this pass."

Suddenly the two Gorons standing behind Spike applauded and grinned. One of them spoke up. "Let's see off our new Goron sibling with a Goron hug!" Spike rolled his eyes as both other Gorons walked toward Buffy like Zombies. Her eyes widened.

"No, really, that's okay, guys. I don't need a…." She tripped over something behind her and turned to run away, but was blocked by another Goron walking toward her in the same fashion. She screamed and ducked under his arm. Angel laughed hysterically and flew behind her as she ran as fast as she could without looking back.

"Buffy, Buffy," Angel breathed finally. "They're not there. You lost them."

She stopped and turned around fervently. It was true; there was only one Goron in sight and he was sleeping soundly. She smiled dimly and realized she hadn't run terribly far anyway; the pants flag flew soundly in front of her. "I know you warned me that the Gorons were vampires, but I had no idea vampires could be _that scary_."

"They've tamed over the years," Angel commented, trying to suppress the chuckles again.

"Ha, ha. Laugh it up, mister used-to-be-one-himself."

"Hey now. I was never a Goron. I was genuinely scary."

"And that wasn't?"

"Hmm. Having your jugular torn out versus being hugged. Which is scarier?"

"Being hugged."

"Boy. You wouldn't have been a fun victim."

"Okay, this conversation is going somewhere I don't want it to. Where do we go from here?" She frowned. "Why does that sentence sound familiar to me?"

Angel thought for a moment. "Remember when we passed here the first time, one of the Gorons mentioned a Great Fairy at the top of the mountain."

"Oh yeah. Okay. Up the mountain we go, then?"

"Equip the metal shield. I think this volcano is still active sometimes."

Buffy stopped walking. "It's a volcano? Why didn't anyone ever tell me that it was a volcano?"

"I thought you gathered that from the heaping lava pits in the cavern."

"I thought that was attributed to the forces of evil being present! I don't want to climb something called 'Death Mountain' that's actually 'Death Volcano' just to see another fairy. I've had enough of fairies."

"Hey!"

"What, do you see something?"

"No, that was protest again."

"I'm serious this time, Angel. You really have to find a new protest noise."

"A Great Fairy is totally different from a fairy like me. They're always female, for one thing. They actually look pretty much human, only bigger. They have… features… and stuff…"

"Angel. Is this fairy clothed?"

"Mostly." He caught a disbelieving look on Buffy's face. "Sort of."

"Sort of."

"Well, a little."

Buffy made a tut noise as she threw her twelfth bomb at the rock on the ledge across from her. This one finally took and the rock exploded, leaving 20 rupees. "That almost made it worth the trouble," she mumbled grumpily as she pocketed the money and jumped up on the next ledge. She stopped and frowned. "What is that noise? Do you hear it?"

"It's just a cow."

"Just a cow?"

"Sure. Probably under that rock."

"There's a cow under that rock."

"Never mind! Just go."

"Shouldn't we save the flattened cow?"

"No, we should save Sunnydale."

"Fine, fine." She surged forward and stopped dead when the ground started to shake.

"Shield! This is Boulder Stretch, it's notorious for being the active bit of the volcano. Just hide until the wave of rocks stops."

"I hate you for taking me up here."

"You're just grumpy because I didn't let you save the cow."

"No, I'm grumpy because my hair is on fire."

"Oh." Angel flew around Buffy's head in an attempt to put out the flames, but a second wave of flaming rocks nipped the effort in the bud. Buffy extinguished her own hair with her shield and grumpily carried on until she hit a rock wall. She took out a slingshot and took down two of the skullwalltulas at once before climbing to the second highest platform and shooting down another one.

"Shit," Buffy whispered when they reached the top. "Drusilla."

"I don't think she sees you. And why is she in plain sunlight? Why isn't she catching on fire?"

"I have to walk right past her."

"And put a bomb to her left."

"Huh? How do you know?"

"I know this mountain pretty well."

"Why?"

"Come on. Vampire, Death Mountain… how would I not think it would have something to offer? I assure you, bomb the wall. That's the Great Fairy's domain."

"All right. What should I do about Drusilla?"

"Say hi to be polite or something."

"I guess. Okay." Buffy walked to her left. "Hey," she said cautiously.

"The Great Fairy lives up here," Drusilla said shakily.

"Thanks. I gathered."

"If you want me to take you into town in my talons, let me know."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you." Buffy raised her eyebrows at Angel after she bombed the wall and stole inside. "Do most vampires have talons?"

"If they do I've been out of the loop about it."

"Box of Gavrok on the ground there."

"Oh yeah. _Ouvre, par puissance du roi_." Suddenly a high-pitched shrieking that might have been laughing filled the room. Buffy winced and resisted temptation to put her hands to her ears. She glanced at Angel and rolled her eyes when she saw the goofy smile on his face. A scantily clad female was floating in front of them. Buffy was so distracted by the sparkling pink hair and Angel was so distracted with how little she had on that neither of them tuned in until the fairy said something about a power meter. Buffy felt a surge of energy and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she felt a lot more confident.

"That spell you incanted… you're a messenger to the royal family! I have a friend who lives by the castle. Next time you're over there you should give her a visit."

"Okay," said Angel, already looking forward to the next visit. Buffy rolled her eyes and thanked the fairy.

"When battle has grown you weary, come back to see me!" And with another shriek that may have been laughter, the fairy disappeared back into her fountain. A slow grin spread across Buffy's face as she turned and walked from the room.

"See? Was that not cool? I thought it was pretty cool."

"Yeah, I'll bet you did," Buffy said back to her fairy. "Okay, Drusilla. Can I take you up on that offer to bring me back to town?"

"Yes! Oh, yes," Drusilla said, thrilled to be of help. Suddenly she sprouted a pair of wings and talons. Angel shouted and hid in Buffy's hat.

"So… Drusilla… Angel tells me you're a vampire."

"_What are you doing? Don't mention my name in her presence!" _Angel hissed in Buffy's ear. Instantly the look on Drusilla-bird's face was one of sorrow.

"My Angel?" she asked hesitantly. "You've seen my Angel?"

"…Yes. He was… just… in town… a few days ago. He's probably long gone by now," Buffy breathed. Drusilla's lower lip quivered.

"He was stabbed, right through the heart by a mean lady. She thought he was a bad man."

"He was a bad man," Buffy said.

"No! He was my Angel."

"We've established that."

"He even grew wings."

"So you know he's a fairy, then?"

"They gave him a soul," she moaned, as if it was an incredible tragedy. "Then that mean lady stabbed him through the chest with a fairy sword and he grew wings."

"So… did that same mean lady stab you through the heart with a sword?"

"No! Not at all. The lady who gave him a soul gave me wings to match." She grinned.

"So you're not a vampire anymore."

"No," she moaned again.

"Do you have a soul?"

"I'm not sure," she said, appearing genuinely confused. "I can't tell. But I haven't killed anyone lately."

"Well, that's a start."

"Do you still wish to go to town?" she asked. Buffy realized for the first time that Drusilla and Spike had identical accents. She still didn't recognize it. Buffy nodded and braced herself as Drusilla grabbed her shoulders with her talons and swooped them down to town in an instant, dropping them in a nearby town and flying away without a word. It was as though she'd forgotten they'd been in her talons at all.

"Is she gone?" Angel whispered after a while.

"Yeah, she's gone." He came out from her hat and breathed a sigh of relief. "Geez, you really did a number on her, didn't you?"

Angel took a deep breath. "I did a lot of horrible things in my time as a vampire, but Drusilla was the worst. I tortured her, killed her entire family, and then when I was sure she was insane, I turned her."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was evil, Buffy. I reveled in it."

"Can you… not tell me these things anymore?"

"You should know how ruthless vampires are. You need to understand them so you can kill them."

"Okay. Whatever," she said quietly, and jumped off the corner of the roof. Her fall was cut short, however, when she landed on a platform above the pen with the children in it. She turned around in confusion and decided to crawl into the hole behind her. Suddenly she found herself inside a cage with a cow in it inside a house. "Ah!" she proclaimed happily and petted the cow. "A non-flattened cow. I'm sorry I didn't save your cousin, but mister torture-first-ask-questions-later over here wouldn't let me." She looked around the cage and spotted a red thing that looked suspiciously like part of a heart in the corner of the cage. She went over to it and picked it up disgustedly. It, instead, went straight above her head and floated there. "Good. An explanation."

"You found a heart piece!" Angel said, happy to have the spotlight off him.

"You're kidding me."

"Collect three other pieces to make a full heart, and you'll have yourself a new heart container." The piece disappeared and Buffy heard a slight squish noise somewhere in her head.

"Angel, did you put that heart piece in my START menu?"

"No," he said, and Buffy sighed in relief as she went through the hole again and jumped to the ground. "It went there automatically."

She stopped in her tracks. "Sometimes I really, really hate this gig."

Angel chuckled. "All right. Two Spiritual Stones and a brand spanking new power meter. All that's left now is the last Spiritual Stone and we get to save the world. Hey, why don't you talk to Xander?"

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure."

"Yes!" she said, and started running for the exit of the town.

"Wait, stop. I meant that you can talk to him telepathically using the spell he gave you."

Buffy's face fell. "So I don't actually get to see him?"

"Nope. Just hear his voice inside your head."

"_La Bastrangue_," Buffy muttered, and then started thinking really loudly. _Xand? You there?_

_  
_

_Buffy?_ came his unmistakable voice. _Oh my God. How are you?_

_I'm… okay, I guess. Listen, I need some info. Do you know anything about the Spiritual Stones?_

_Some. I did some research after I last saw you. You got the one from the Great Watcher Giles, right? Yeah, that would have been the forest one. That leaves Fire and Water._

_I got fire already. Water was the other one? Hm. Any idea where that might be?_

_Aw Buff, I know almost nothing outside this forest. Why don't you ask that genius fairy of yours?_

_Good plan. Hold on_. "Hey Angel, where would the Spiritual Stone of Water be?"

The fairy frowned. "I'd guess either Lake Hylia or… actually, Zora's Domain would be a more likely bet. The Zoras work for the Royal Family and they live in an aquatic wonderland, so…"

"Do you know where that is?"

"I think I remember. It's been a while, but I think I can swing it."

"Cool." _Thanks Xand, we've got it. You're a life saver._

_That makes two of us, I guess._ He laughed. Buffy tried to prevent the tears from springing to her eyes. It had been less than a week, but it seemed like a lifetime since she'd last seen Xander.

_I miss you, Xander._

_I miss you too, Buff. Longest week of my life not having you around. But the sooner you get that stone, the sooner we can talk in person. Hurry up and save Sunnydale, will you?_

Buffy gave a burst of laughter and gave Xander a sniffly goodbye, cutting off the conversation before it rambled on too long. When Xander's farewell stopped echoing in her head, she looked up with pride. "That's my Xand. Make a spell that does more than one thing." She took a deep breath and walked out into Central Sunnydale. "All right, Angel my friend. Point me in the direction of Zora's Domain." 


	11. Interlude: To Zora's Domain Part II

"Turn left and walk as close to the wall as possible to avoid falling in the river," Angel instructed.

Buffy frowned skeptically but did as he said, triumphantly stepping back onto solid land and following the river somewhere she'd never noticed before. "Isn't it kinda strange that the open country has walls? I mean, there's this epic field… the school I can understand, but there are those pointless stone fences in the middle that don't lead anywhere or keep anything in. And then there are these high walls. You just kinda wonder why they're there."

"Looks like you've gotten bigger and stronger already," came Drusilla's shaky voice quite suddenly from above. Buffy jumped in surprise and then took on a look of minor indignance.

"I just saw you. Like, less than an hour ago. You brought me into town. Plus, I'm a forestfolk. I don't grow."

"Zora's Domain is up ahead. They serve the royal family."

"We've been over this already. Anything else?"

"Daddy and I would always try to get in. Got to get to the Zora people. They taste so lovely…"

"Euurgh, too much information."

"But the doors wouldn't open. There was a funny box symbol… only those associated with the Royal Family can enter. Not even dress-up can fool the door, oooh…" Drusilla wailed and then turned and flew away into the darkening sky.

Buffy shook her head and bombed the line of rocks in front of her without saying anything. Angel frowned. "Well, that makes a lot more sense than diving into the river and trying to swim against the current."

"Is that what you did back in the day?"

"Sadly, yes."

"I thought vampires were supposed to be cunning."

"Me too."

"…Angel…"

"Hmm?"

"Why is there a kid running around these rocks?"

"I… don't know. Maybe he belongs to that guy." Angel indicated to their right and Buffy caught sight of a somewhat overweight and entirely shirtless man eating beans from a bag.

"I don't mean to interrupt your… meal, sir," Buffy said as she approached the man, "but is that your child over there?"

"Chomp chomp chomp. I have magic beans. They aren't selling very well…"

"That's nice. I was just wondering if that was your kid…"

"I'll sell you one for ten rupees."

"One child or one magic bean?"

"Chomp chomp chomp."

Buffy frowned and leaned toward Angel, talking out of the corner of her mouth. "Why is he speaking the sound effect of his eating? I don't get that."

"Me neither. Maybe just buy one of his beans."

"Okay. Here's ten rupees for you," she said hesitantly, handing the money to the man. He brought out a magic bean and it flew above her head. Angel grinned and took a deep breath.

"You got a magic bean!"

"Angel, I swear to God, if you tell me that this bean is for eating, I'll smack you across the face."

Angel stared and continued in a very loud and fragmented voice. "_Put it in a soft patch of dirt and maybe it'll grow!_"

"…Oh. Okay. Neat." The bean flew into her hat. "Does this count?" she asked, pointing at a soft patch of dirt.

"Yep," Angel said. The bean guy no longer seemed to notice that they were there. Buffy put the bean in the ground and crouched over it as it immediately grew into a tiny sprout. Buffy waited, but nothing further happened.

"That's it? That's all it does?"

Angel shook his head and sighed, but not in exasperation. It was more a sad sigh. "I didn't think it would really do anything yet. Magic beans tend to grow into magic lily pads, but not for years."

"So basically that was an excellent waste of ten rupees."

"For your purposes, yeah. But maybe you helped someone in the future."

"Will they pay me ten rupees?"

"No. Probably not."

"Well then." Buffy raised her eyebrows at the kid and contemplated taking it with her, but decided not to in case it really did belong to the bean guy and she'd be charged with kidnapping. She jumped across the river at the narrow diagonal bit and started running up the hill. An octopus-looking demon jumped out of the water and spat something at Buffy, but she kept running. She jumped a gap in the river, and then jumped another, and followed the elevated platform until it came to an end. She jumped down and rolled out of the fall without any hesitation. Angel followed her hesitantly and finally spoke up.

"Are you… mad?"

"Hmm?" She looked over at the fairy in surprise, and then smiled kindly. "No. I'm just… thinking. Not really paying any… any attention to where I'm going… how did I get here?"

"You ran. With a vengeance."

She smiled again at her fairy and climbed up the ledge, crossing the river without difficulty. "I was just thinking about this trek and how weird it is. Everything's totally changed for me. I was really happy in my forest with my best friend, not really doing anything, arguing with Harmony as much as possible, but now… I don't know. I see everything differently. I miss Xander and I miss the forest but I think that when I go back I'll get bored and have to go off on occasional trips to see everything again. With you," she added with fondness in her voice. Angel glowed with pride.

"Or after we get the third stone and you go home and rest for a while, we can go on new adventures. Like…Lake Hylia. That was my favourite place as a human. I used to spend hours just basking in the sun and fishing."

"Is it pretty there?"

"Gorgeous. Words can't describe you."

Buffy's head suddenly snapped toward Angel. He grew concerned. "What's wrong?"

She stared for another couple of seconds. "Nothing. It's just… what did you say?"

"I said words can't describe it."

"Oh. Oh. Okay. Sorry, I heard something… totally different." She turned and surged forward again, jumping over another part of the river. Angel hung behind and watched her carefully before following her again.

"You all right, Buffy?"

"Yeah. Just kinda starting to think that this adventuring is driving me a bit loony… whoa." She stopped in her tracks to behold the waterfall in front of her. The sun was rising behind her; flying specs of water sparkled in the glow. Paths crisscrossed their way up to a platform directly in front of the waterfall. Buffy leapt over a gap and stood in front of the cascade, vaguely aware of the crescendo of music from somewhere behind her as the sun rose.

Angel glowed green around her feet. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but this plaque is prompting a messenger of the Royal Family."

"Mmhmm. I'm getting to it," Buffy said absently. She reached out and caught a bit of the waterfall in her hand, splashing it across her face and smiling as she remembered the times she and Xander used to wander around the Lost Woods and take a break by the watering hole. They always used to be mystified by the passage that appeared to be at the bottom of the deep pond, but neither of them were skilled enough swimmers or brave enough to dive way down to see where it led. Buffy turned and instinctively looked to her right. "That pond there… does it lead to the Lost Woods?"

Angel flew over and peered down. "Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah… Drusilla and I were up here trying to figure out how to get to the Zoras when that girl who killed our kind came up behind us. The only way out was down here, and… then we were in the Lost Woods. I thought the girl had just worked some kind of spell on us and put us there for some reason."

Buffy smiled and faced the falls again. The sunlight reflected off her face in such a way that caught Angel off-guard; he hovered above the pond to watch her for a second. "The Lost Woods is filled with many a mystery," she said nostalgically. Then her expression faded into seriousness and she stood up straight. "All righty then, magic door… _ouvre, par puissance du roi._"

The waterfall parted, revealing a passage in the rock. Buffy smiled again and looked back at Angel. "Coming?"

"Yeah." Angel flew back toward Buffy as she jumped the gap and walked into what could only be described as an aquatic wonderland. 


	12. Interlude: In Zora's Domain Part I

**A/N:** _This chapter moves a bit away from the original frivolity of the story. There's a bit of plot integrated from the show into the game. It always bothered me that those demons from the hell dimension in The Gift (5x22) looked so much like the Zoras. Anyway, here goes. Hopefully some people are still interested in this silly story. :)_

---

The expression on Buffy's face was one of pure awe as the pathway gave way to a community carved out of the rock. Another waterfall poured into the pond around which the community was based; white blurs moved beneath the surface of the water, crystalline blue. She moved along the path slowly, taking in her surroundings; Angel floated beside her, apparently in a similar state of awe. Buffy noticed and smiled. "Anything like you expected?"

Angel seemed to shake his head. "I expected a metropolis, like Restfield Cemetery." He whistled in a strange high-pitched fairy way. "Geez, if I was evil and not a fairy anymore, this place would be so much fun to destroy."

Buffy rolled her eyes as she turned right into an area that led to the water's edge. "Is it bad that I'm already getting used to these comments?"

Angel was silent for a moment. "Are you?"

"Well… yes and no. It's your fault, you keep making them. I just kind of accept them as disturbing… it doesn't really seem like they're relevant to you at all. I get that you used to be evil, but you're not anymore. And that's what's important, you know?"

Angel glowed a bit brighter for a moment; his response, however, was clipped by a soft voice behind them. "Can I help you, Miss?"

Buffy turned to regard a tall figure. He sort of resembled a Hylian; he was very thin, however, as well as starch white and adorned with fins. Buffy shook her head momentarily to shake off her awe of the proud creature. "Um… no. Well, maybe. I'm on a quest… there's this whole thing about saving the world… it's a long story. I'm looking for a spiritual stone, and a friend told me that the Zoras might have it." Buffy hesitated. "Do you… know them?"

The creature smiled. "You must be a messenger of the Royal Family if you were able to enter."

"I… yes."

"You have come to the right place. We are the Zoras, a clan of peaceful demons. Clem, our king, sits at the top of the palace. You should inquire about your quest with him."

Buffy nodded. "Where do I go to find him?"

The Zora turned his head to the right. Buffy was suddenly hit with a wave of something; a series of images presented in her mind against her will.

_lightning  
dragon  
mobs of insanity  
tower of welded steel  
buildings overcome by black  
Zoras rearing their heads_

Buffy shook her head hard and pressed her hands to her temples as the images began to fade. She realized that her eyes were closed; when she opened them, she saw that the Zora, exactly the same species as the creature she'd just seen, was staring down at her somewhat concernedly. She stepped back. "What?" she asked loudly in response to the images; the Zora thought she was speaking to him and repeated himself.

"Turn right and climb the stairs; they will lead you to our King. Are you all right?"

"I… yes. Thank you," Buffy stammered, brushing past the Zora and following his instructions up the stairs. Angel followed just behind her.

"You're shaking," Angel muttered in her ear with grave concern. "And you're dead pale. What happened?"

"I don't know. I just flashed to… I don't know what it was. A memory, a premonition, I don't know, but it was something and it didn't belong in my head."

"What did you see?"

"Some sort of apocalyptic scene. The air was tearing and lightning was hitting things… a building turned black and Zoras were suddenly everywhere. They didn't belong. It was so not good. I'm suddenly not so sure they're the peaceful clan they claim."

Angel frowned. "Are you sure they were there for the purposes of evil?"

"The world was ending, Angel. I don't think they were just visiting to help granny with her baking."

Angel was silent as he tried to figure out what Buffy had seen when they came upon a very large and very round Zora, sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a sort of shrine. Buffy suppressed a smirk at the demon's size compared to the Zora she'd just spoken with. "So… do I talk to him from here?"

"Maybe go up that path to the right, it leads right to him. Listen, Buffy, I've lived a while, and as long as I can remember, the Zoras have served the Royal Family. If they were evil once upon a time, it's not their way now."

"Reformed, huh?"

"Something like that."

"All right. I can accept that," Buffy said, smiling at her fairy. She was now right beside Clem; she noticed for the first time that he seemed to be whimpering about something. "Er… excuse me, Mr. Zora King?"

Clem went on whimpering and didn't acknowledge Buffy's existence.

"Hi?"

No response.

Buffy scowled and went back down the path. She stood in front of Clem and watched him as she tried to figure out what to do; it was then that she noticed the sign. It read:

"King Zora's throne room. To hear the king's royal proclamation, stand on the platform and speak to him."

"Only the platform?" Buffy asked.

"Guess so," Angel said.

"I was right beside him. Right there. Way closer to his ear."

"He won't respond unless you're standing on the platform."

"Uh-huh. Weird customs." Buffy stepped onto the platform. "Sorry to bother you, sir, but…"

"Oh my dear, sweet Princess… where has she gone? I'm so worried."

Buffy frowned and leaned toward Angel, talking out of the corner of her mouth. "If he's the king, the princess is his daughter, right?"

"Most likely, yeah," Angel replied.

"Okay." Buffy stood up straight again. "The Princess, sir?"

"Oh my dear, sweet Princess… where has she gone? I'm so worried."

"You… already said that."

"Oh my dear, sweet—"

"He's not going to help me until I find the princess, is he?"

"Probably not, no," Angel replied.

Buffy sighed and jumped off the platform. The water reached to about her ankles; she noticed a passageway to her left and decided to explore. Soon the passage ended; it quite literally dropped off and became the waterfall. A Zora stood at the top. Buffy peered over the edge hesitantly.

"Want to play? 20 rupees," the Zora asked.

"Play what?"

"Diving game. If you can collect all five blue rupees within the time limit, I'll give you something."

Buffy shrugged. "I kinda feel like I'm being suckered, but okay." She handed the Zora her money; he promptly exchanged the red rupee for five blue ones and threw them over the falls.

"START!"

Buffy gazed down fearfully. "I knew there was a catch."

Angel hovered over the edge. "Time's already running down, Buffy."

"Ha! Haha! Height may not be a problem for you since you fly and all, but some of us ground-dwelling creatures don't enjoy leaping off thirty-foot embankments."

"Actually it's probably more like forty—"

"Not helping!"

"Just jump. If you've got the visions, you've got the intuition."

"What does that mean?"

"I'll fly with you. Come on."

Buffy's scowl subsided into fear only momentarily before she took a breath and jumped. She felt herself pull into a graceful dive, hitting the water with barely any splash. She broke surface and grinned at Angel, who had flown down with her.

"Good! Now get the money."

"Oh! Right." Buffy dove, keeping her eyes open under the water, snatching up all five monetary pieces in three dives. She broke the surface again and shook tried to shake the water out of her hair. The Zora called from his perch atop the waterfall.

"Okay! Come up and claim your prize."

Buffy talked non-stop as she swam toward shore. "That was awesome. Like, actually. I didn't know I could do that. Did you know I could do that?" Angel started to respond before Buffy cut him off again. "What doesn't make sense to me is why I can dive off a cliff like that but once in the water I can't really do anything. I just sort of duck underwater, and run out of breath instantly and have to come back up again." Buffy stood and waded to dry land. "Hey, look, fish," she pointed out off-handedly. She reached behind her to wring out her hair and was mystified when no water came from it; her hair was completely dry. She frowned and looked down; all of her was completely dry. "Huh?"

"What?"

"I'm dry."

"Oh. Huh. Maybe it's a Zora thing."

"I guess so." Buffy was silent as she made her way back up the stairs and down the corridor. She looked up expectantly at the Zora, who smiled.

"Well, here's your gift," he said. Suddenly what looked like a guitar pick in a bubble shot up and floated around her head. Angel spoke cheerfully.

"You got the silver scale! Where you could only stay underwater for three seconds before, you can now stay under for six!" Buffy felt a distant click in her mind, and she knew the bubble had automatically sent itself to her START menu.

"That was one spectacular dive," the Zora commented after Buffy thanked him for the scale. Buffy smiled and leapt off the waterfall again, this time without hesitation.

"You did that to show off, didn't you?" Angel asked when Buffy resurfaced.

"Maybe a little," she grinned. She stayed in the water this time, not worried about catching a cold now that she knew that she'd dry as soon as she was out of the water. She swam toward the other end of the lake, passing a couple of Zora that surfaced as she passed. "What do you think is down there?" she asked her fairy, beckoning with her head at what looked like a passage at the bottom of the lake.

"I don't know. Maybe that's were the Princess went," Angel suggested. Buffy raised her eyebrows at the fairy.

"Guess we're going in." Angel nodded and flew into Buffy's hat. Buffy took a deep breath and dove deep beneath the water. 


End file.
